Hepatic artery resection in distal cholangiocarcinoma

This study aimed to elucidate the safety and oncological outcomes of surgery with hepatic artery resection (HAR) for patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma.

The clinical data of patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma who underwent curative intent surgery at Hiroshima University between March 2009 and January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Eligible patients were classified according to the presence or absence of HAR (HAR and non-HAR group), and clinicopathological features and disease-free survival rates were compared between the two groups.

Among the 60 patients analyzed, eight patients had received HAR, and the remaining 52 patients had not. The rate of portal vein resection, T stage, and the number of metastasized lymph nodes in the HAR group were significantly greater than those in the non-HAR group (p < 0.001, p = 0.00695, and p = 0.0480, respectively). Postoperative severe complication was confirmed in one patient, and there were no in-hospital deaths in the HAR group. Seven of 8 patients in the HAR group showed recurrence during follow-up, and of those, six patients showed early recurrence within 1 year postoperatively. The disease-free survival time in the HAR group was significantly shorter than that in the non-HAR group (median: 7.4 m vs. 34.2 m, respectively) (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis and HAR were significant risk factors for predicting the adverse disease-free survival time (hazard ratio (HR), 3.21; p = 0.0142; HR, 4.47; p = 0.0346, respectively).

Patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma who underwent surgery with HAR tended to show early recurrences, although HAR could be performed safely.