title: Hepatocellular carcinoma cases with five-year survival and prognostic factors affecting the survival time.
abstract: Between 1980 and 1994, 178 patients were confirmed to have hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in our hospital. The 5-year survival rates in patients with HCC of stage I, II and IVA were 38.1%, 31.8% and 3.9%, respectively. No patient in stage III or IVB survived for more than four years. The 5-year survival rates of the patients treated by hepatic resection, ultrasonically guided percutaneous ethanol injection and transcatheter hepatic arterial embolization were 53.7%, 38.7% and 13.5%, respectively. The logrank test showed a significant difference in cumulative survival rates obtained in patients with HCC according to the tumor stage (p < 0.001) or principal treatment procedure (p < 0.001). Twelve patients survived for more than five years. We employed a Cox's proportional hazards model to estimate the factors significantly affecting the survival time. Variables with statistical significance were the clinical stage (p < 0.001), tumor size (maximal tumor diameter) (p < 0.001) and patient's age (p < 0.05). Conclusively, patients in the early stage of HCC associated with mild liver cirrhosis have a significantly better chance for long survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Miyagi Cancer Center Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onodera
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ukai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Minami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006499:Hepatic Artery; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011517:Prothrombin Time; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin; D001663:Bilirubin