PURPOSE: The current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) fails to stratify patients adequately with respect to prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The ability of the currently proposed tumor (T) categories to effectively stratify the survival of 557 patients who underwent complete resection for HCC at four centers was examined. Independent predictors of survival were combined into a new staging system. RESULTS: Using the current AJCC T classification, patients with T1 and T2 tumors had similar 5-year survivals (P =.6). In addition, the survival of patients with multiple bilobar tumors (T4) matched that of T3 patients (P =.5). Independent predictors of death were major vascular invasion (P <.001), microvascular invasion (P =.001), severe fibrosis/cirrhosis of the host liver (P =.001), multiple tumors (P =.007), and tumor size greater than 5 cm (P =.01). Based on our results, a simplified stratification is proposed: (a) patients with a single tumor and no microvascular invasion, (b) patients with a single tumor and microvascular invasion or multiple tumors, none more than 5 cm, and (c) patients with either multiple tumors, any more than 5 cm, or tumor with major vascular invasion (P <.001). Severe fibrosis/cirrhosis had a negative impact on survival within all categories. The survival of patients with lymph node involvement matched that of patients with major vascular invasion (P =.3). CONCLUSION: The current AJCC staging system for HCC is unnecessarily complex. We propose a simplified model of stratification that is based on vascular invasion, tumor number, and tumor size and incorporates the effect of fibrosis on survival.
PURPOSE: The current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) fails to stratify patients adequately with respect to prognosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The ability of the currently proposed tumor (T) categories to effectively stratify the survival of 557 patients who underwent complete resection for HCC at four centers was examined. Independent predictors of survival were combined into a new staging system. RESULTS: Using the current AJCC T classification, patients with T1 and T2 tumors had similar 5-year survivals (P =.6). In addition, the survival of patients with multiple bilobar tumors (T4) matched that of T3 patients (P =.5). Independent predictors of death were major vascular invasion (P <.001), microvascular invasion (P =.001), severe fibrosis/cirrhosis of the host liver (P =.001), multiple tumors (P =.007), and tumor size greater than 5 cm (P =.01). Based on our results, a simplified stratification is proposed: (a) patients with a single tumor and no microvascular invasion, (b) patients with a single tumor and microvascular invasion or multiple tumors, none more than 5 cm, and (c) patients with either multiple tumors, any more than 5 cm, or tumor with major vascular invasion (P <.001). Severe fibrosis/cirrhosis had a negative impact on survival within all categories. The survival of patients with lymph node involvement matched that of patients with major vascular invasion (P =.3). CONCLUSION: The current AJCC staging system for HCC is unnecessarily complex. We propose a simplified model of stratification that is based on vascular invasion, tumor number, and tumor size and incorporates the effect of fibrosis on survival.
Authors: Eiji Kikuchi; Vitaly Margulis; Pierre I Karakiewicz; Marco Roscigno; Shuji Mikami; Yair Lotan; Mesut Remzi; Christian Bolenz; Cord Langner; Alon Weizer; Francesco Montorsi; Karim Bensalah; Theresa M Koppie; Mario I Fernández; Jay D Raman; Wassim Kassouf; Christopher G Wood; Nazareno Suardi; Mototsugu Oya; Shahrokh F Shariat Journal: J Clin Oncol Date: 2008-12-15 Impact factor: 44.544
Authors: Theodore H Welling; Kevin Eddinger; Kristen Carrier; Danting Zhu; Tyler Kleaveland; Derek E Moore; Douglas E Schaubel; Peter L Abt Journal: Liver Transpl Date: 2018-09 Impact factor: 5.799