Recurrence of primary hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy--differences related to underlying hepatitis virus species.
OBJECTIVE
Studies on post-hepatectomy prognoses by infecting viral species have only been rarely reported.


METHODS
The patients who had undergone hepatectomy for primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) over the past 10 years at our hospital were divided into three groups based on their underlying causal diseases: hepatitis B (B type), hepatitis C (C type), and non-viral hepatitis including alcoholic hepatitis, and their backgrounds and long-term results after hepatectomy were comparatively investigated.


RESULTS
As for tumor factors, the tumor diameter was 3.7+/-2.1 cm in C type patients, which was significantly smaller than the 5.2+/-3.3 cm diameter in B type patients (p=0.01) and 7.9+/-5.6 cm in non-viral patients (p=0.001). However, the frequencies of intrahepatic metastasis, portal vein infiltration, capsule formation and capsule infiltration did not differ significantly among the three groups. Although there was no significant difference observed among the three groups for the recurrence-free survival time, HCC had recurred at as early a stage as within 1 postoperative year in 50% of non-viral patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The size of a tumor upon hepatectomy and the presence or absence of intrahepatic metastasis were found to be significant factors contributing to the postoperative recurrence of HCC. It is possible that the recurrence-free postoperative survival time may be prolonged by earlier detection of HCC, particularly for the B type and the non-viral type in which the tumor size was already large at the time of surgery.
Uchiyama
Kazuhisa
K
Second Department of Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, School of Medicine, Wakayama, Japan.
Ueno
Masaki
M
Hama
Takashi
T
Kawai
Manabu
M
Tani
Masaji
M
Terasawa
Hiroshi
H
Ozawa
Satoru
S
Uemura
Ryuichiro
R
Nakase
Takayuki
T
Yamaue
Hiroki
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors