Hepatocellular carcinoma: a multivariate analysis of prognostic features in patients treated with hepatic arterial embolization

The prognosis after hepatic arterial chemoembolization was retrospectively analyzed in relation to therapeutic modalities, stage of tumor, and degree of liver cirrhosis in 150 patients with solitary tumors of hepatocellular carcinoma. The analyses of life-table methods revealed that adjunct hepatectomy, tumor size, bilirubin, albumin, globulin, and the 15-min retention rate of indocyanine green are statistically significant prognostic factors for hepatic arterial chemoembolization. Results of Cox's proportional hazard analyses disclosed that adjunct hepatectomy (p = 0.0001), serum albumin level (p = 0.0032), and stage of tumor (p = 0.0194) are statistically significant and independent prognostic factors. These findings suggest that the prognosis after hepatic arterial chemoembolization depends on the hepatic functional reserve and stage of tumor in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and adjunct hepatectomy improves the prognosis in these patients.