Postoperative Adjuvant Transcatheterarterial Chemoembolization Should Be Considered Selectively for Patients with
Rong-Yun Mai1, Zheng Tao1, Hong-Yang Huang1
1Department of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, 530021, People's Republic of China.
Background:
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of postoperative adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE) in cytokeratin 19-positive (CK19+) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and to identify cases that may benefit from PA-TACE.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective analysis of 453 CK19+ HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy between November 2013 and June 2019 at our institution. We compared the recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) between patients who received PA-TACE and those who did not, utilizing propensity score matching (PSM) to balance the groups.
Results:
Before and after PSM, both RFS and OS were significantly greater in PA-TACE group compared to the non-TACE group. Multivariable analysis identified PA-TACE as a significantly favorable factor of RFS and OS. In subgroups analyses, PA-TACE significantly improved RFS and OS in patients with CK19+ HCC under the following conditions: alpha-fetoprotein ≥ 400 ng/mL, cirrhosis, tumor size ≥ 5 cm, multiple tumors, major resection, Edmondson-Steiner stage III-IV, macrovascular invasion and microvascular invasion. Similar results were obtained in patients with higher tumor stages. Further recurrence model analyses revealed that PA-TACE significantly reduced early recurrence in patients with high-risk of postoperative recurrence, but had little effect on late recurrence.
Conclusion:
Among CK19+ HCC patients with higher recurrence of postoperative risk, PA-TACE could greatly improve RFS and OS.
