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Background: In China, both percutaneous microwave/radiofrequency ablation liver partition plus portal vein embolization (PALPP) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus portal vein embolization (PVE) have been utilized in planned hepatectomy. However, there is a lack of comparative studies on the effectiveness of these two techniques for cases with insufficient future liver remnant (FLR)., Methods: Patients were categorized into either the PALPP group or the TACE + PVE group. Clinical data, including FLR growth rate, complications, secondary resection rate, and overall survival rate, were compared and analyzed for both groups retrospectively., Results: Between December 2014 and October 2021, a total of 29 patients underwent TACE + PVE (n = 12) and PALPP (n = 17). In the TACE + PVE group, 7 patients successfully underwent two-stage hepatectomy, while in the PALPP group, 13 patients underwent the procedure (two-stage resection rate: 58.3% vs. 76.5%, P = 0.42). There were no significant differences in postoperative complications of one-stage procedures (11.8% vs. 8.3%, P > 0.05) and second-stage resection complication (0% vs. 46.2%, P = 0.05) between the TACE + PVE and PALPP groups. However, the PALPP group demonstrated a shorter time to FLR volume growth for second-stage resection (18.5 days vs. 66 days, P = 0.001) and KGR (58.5 ml/week vs. 7.7 ml/week, P = 0.001)., Conclusions: Compared with TACE + PVE, PALPP results in a more significant increase in FLR volume and a higher rate of two-stage resection without increasing postoperative complications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Postoperative complications are vital factors affecting the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially for complex hepatectomy. The present study aimed to compare perioperative complications between laparoscopic and robotic complex hepatectomy (LCH vs. RCH)., Methods: Patients with solitary HCC after complex hepatectomy were collected from a multicenter database. Propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis was adopted to control confounding bias. Multivariable analysis was performed to determine the prognostic factors., Results: 436 patients were included. After PSM, 43 patients were included in both the LCH and RCH groups. The results showed that compared to LCH, RCH had lower rates of blood loss and transfusion, and lower postoperative 30-day and major morbidity, and post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) (all P < 0.05). Additionally, the length of hospital stay was shorter in the RCH group (P = 0.026). Multivariable analysis showed RCH is an independent protective factor for reducing the 30-day morbidity, major morbidity and PHLF., Conclusion: RCH has advantages over LCH in the minimally invasive treatment of complex HCC, as it can reduce the incidence of postoperative morbidity. Therefore, RCH should be considered for patients with HCC who require complex hepatectomy., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest None to declare., (Copyright © 2024 International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Non-cancer-specific death (NCSD) is an important factor that needs to be considered in patients with malignancy, as it can affect their long-term prognosis. In particular, the effect of age on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy requires clarification. This study aims to examine the impact of age on patients with HCC after hepatectomy and to identify independent risk factors of survival., Methods: Patients with HCC that fell within the Milan Criteria and had undergone curative hepatectomy were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups: young patients (age <70) and elderly patients (age ≥70). Perioperative complications, cancer-specific death (CSD), recurrence, and NCSD were all recorded and analyzed. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent risk factors of survival using Fine and Gray's competing-risk regression model., Results: Among 1,354 analytic patients, 1,068 (78.7%) were stratified into the young group and 286 (21.3%) into the elderly group. The elderly group had a higher 5-year cumulative incidence of NCSD (12.6% vs. 3.7% for the young group, P < 0.001), but lower 5-year cumulative incidences of recurrence (20.3% vs. 21.1% for the young group, P = 0.041) and CSD (14.3% vs. 15.5% for the young group, P = 0.066). Multivariate competing-risk regression analyses revealed that age was independently associated with NCSD (subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR) 3.003, 95%CI: 2.082-4.330, P < 0.001), but not with recurrence (SHR 0.837, 95%CI: 0.659-1.060, P = 0.120) or CSD (SHR 0.736, 95%CI: 0.537-1.020, P = 0.158)., Conclusion: For patients with early-stage HCC after hepatectomy, older age was independently associated with NCSD, but not recurrence and CSD., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background & Aims: Although anatomical hepatectomy (AH) is widely used in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the prognosis is still unsatisfactory. The present study aimed to evaluate the survival benefit of adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for patients with HCC after AH., Methods: A total of 832 patients were stratified into with adjuvant TACE (443, 53.2%) and without adjuvant TACE group (389, 46.8%) AH. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to control for confounding factors, and multivariable Cox regression was performed to determine the independent risk factors., Results: After PSM, the results showed that the adjuvant TACE group had better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Among the patients with tumor recurrence, adjuvant TACE was associated with a high rate of early-stage tumor at recurrence, a lower recurrence rate around the frontal margin and extrahepatic metastases, and a higher rate of receiving curative treatment. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that adjuvant TACE was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR 0.673, P = 0.001) and RFS (HR 0.650, P = 0.001)., Conclusions: Patients with HCC after AH can benefit from postoperative adjuvant TACE. Therefore, adjuvant TACE should be considered for patients with a high risk of recurrence.

Purpose: Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial, especially for tumors larger than 5 cm. We compared the short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic and open liver resection (OLR) for large HCC., Methods: Patients with large HCC after curative hepatectomy were enrolled. To compare the short-term outcomes, propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) were performed to reduce the effect of confounding factors, respectively. Subsequently, Cox-regression analyses were conducted to identify the independent risk factors associated with decreased recurrence-free survival (RFS) and poor overall survival (OS)., Result: There were 265 patients enrolled in the final analysis: 146 who underwent OLR and 119 who underwent LLR. There was no significant difference between the OLR and LLR groups according to PSM and IPTW analysis (all P > 0.05). Multivariable analysis revealed that LLR was not independently associated with poorer OS (HR 1.15, 95% CI 0.80-1.67, P = 0.448) or RFS (HR 1.22, 95% CI 0.88-1.70, P = 0.238)., Conclusion: There were no significant differences in perioperative complications or long-term prognosis between LLR and OLR for large HCC, which provides evidence for standard laparoscopic surgical practice with adequate surgeon experience and careful patient selection., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.)

Background: The impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. The present study aims to draw a firm conclusion in terms of evaluating the impact of DM on the prognosis of HCC after hepatectomy., Methods: The pattern of recurrence for HCC was often stratified into early-stage (<2 years) and late-stage (≥2 years) recurrence. Because the early-stage recurrence was mainly attributed to aggressive tumor pathological characteristics, patients who recurrence or die within 2 years were excluded. Cumulative overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were determined by the method of Kaplan-Meier, and the independent risk factors of OS/RFS were determined by Cox regression analysis., Results: A total of 426 patients were eventually included. The 3- and 5-year OS in patients with and without DM was 83.7%, 55.1%; and 90.9%, 77.4%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that DM was an independent risk factor for OS (HR 1.166, 95% CI 1.056-2.036, P = 0.022) and RFS (HR 1.365, 95% CI 1.043-1.787, P = 0.023)., Conclusion: DM is an independent risk factor for long-term prognosis in patients with HCC. Patients with DM after hepatectomy for HCC, thus, need to actively control DM and closer follow-up.