Characteristics at presentation and outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the elderly. A study of the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP).
OBJECTIVE
To describe the characteristics at presentation and the outcome of elderly patients (> or =70 years old) with HCC, a retrospective analysis using a CLIP database was performed.


METHODS
The database included 650 patients. Chi2-test, logistic and Cox model were applied.


RESULTS
Baseline characteristics and stage were similarly among elderly (n=158) and non-elderly (n=492) patients. More elderly patients did not receive any local treatment (56% versus 38%, p<0.0001). Age and CLIP score were independently predictive of the odds of locoregional treatment. Prognosis was worse for elderly patients with a hazard ratio of death of 1.49 (95% CI 1.20-1.86) at multivariable analysis. The survival difference disappeared when patients were compared within each treatment group, suggesting a close link between undertreatment and shorter survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Elderly patients with HCC have a worse prognosis compared to non-elderly ones. Such difference seems the consequence of undertreatment.
Pignata
Sandro
S
Oncologia Medica B, Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Napoli, Italy.
Gallo
Ciro
C
Daniele
Bruno
B
Elba
Silvana
S
Giorgio
Antonio
A
Capuano
Gaetano
G
Adinolfi
Luigi Elio
LE
De Sio
Ilario
I
Izzo
Francesco
F
Farinati
Fabio
F
Del Naja
Carlo
C
Stanzione
Maria
M
Castiglione
Fabiana
F
Marone
Giampiero
G
Cuomo
Oreste
O
Felder
Martina
M
Gaeta
Giovanni Battista
GB
De Maio
Ermelinda
E
Di Maio
Massimo
M
Signoriello
Giuseppe
G
Perrone
Francesco
F
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome