A wide-margin liver resection improves long-term outcomes for patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma with microvascular invasion

The impact of the resection margin on survival outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma remains to be determined. This study aimed to examine the association between the width of resection margin and the presence of microvascular invasion in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

We reviewed data on 2,508 consecutive patients who underwent liver resection for a solitary, hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma for operative morbidity, tumor recurrence, and overall survival.

Microvascular invasion was identified histologically in 929 patients (37.0%). A wide margin of resection (≥1 cm, n = 384) resulted in better 5-year recurrence and overall survival versus a narrow margin of resection (<1 cm, n = 545) among patients with microvascular invasion (71.1% versus 85.9%; 44.9% versus 25.0%; both P < .001), but not in patients without microvascular invasion (P = .131, .182). Similar results were identified after propensity-score matching. A wide margin resection also had a lesser incidence of early recurrence developed within the first postoperative 24 months (58.1% versus 72.7%; P < .001). Compared with a wide resection margin, a narrow margin was associated with worse recurrence and overall survival in patients with microvascular invasion (hazard ratio: 1.50 and 1.75). In addition, a wide or a narrow resection margin had differences in the rate of grade I-III, but not grade IV complications (31.0% versus 21.7%; P = .017; 3.5% versus 1.6%; P = .147) among cirrhotic patients with microvascular invasion.

The presence of microvascular invasion was associated with a worse prognosis after resection. A wide resection margin resulted in better long-term prognoses versus a narrow resection margin among patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma with microvascular invasion.