Tumour site is a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy: a 1:2 propensity score matching analysis

The effect of the anatomic location of HCC on the prognosis of patients after hepatectomy is currently unclear.

Patients who underwent hepatectomy were retrospectively enrolled and divided into the right tumour resection group (R group) and the left tumour resection group (L group) according to the tumour anatomic location. To avoid bias, 1:2 propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used. Based on the survival data, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and long-term survival analysis was performed. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyse the risk factors associated with postoperative prognosis.

A total of 700 patients were enrolled in our study. After 1:2 PSM, 354 and 177 patients were enrolled in the R group and the L group, respectively, with comparable baseline characteristics. Survival analysis showed that patients in the L group had a significantly higher recurrence rate than patients in the R group (P = 0.036), but there was no significant difference in the survival rate (P = 0.99). Long-term survival analysis showed that the survival rate of the L group was lower than that of the R group (P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that tumour location in the left liver was an independent risk factor for tumour recurrence (hazard ratio, 1.263; 95% CI, 1.005-1.587) and long-term survival (hazard ratio, 3.232; 95% CI, 1.284-8.134).

For HCC patients, the recurrence rate and long-term survival rate of left liver tumours were significantly higher than those of right liver tumours, indicating that the anatomical location of the tumour has a significant effect on the survival of HCC patients. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2100052407. Registered 25 October 2021, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=135500 .