Outcomes of liver transplantation in 490 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: validation of a uniform staging after surgical treatment.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to compare the ability of staging systems (American Joint Committee on Cancer/Union Internationale contre le Cancer [AJCC/UICC], Japanese TNM, Pittsburgh, United Network for Organ Sharing [UNOS], Cancer of the Liver Italian Program [CLIP], Japan Integrated Staging [JIS], and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer [BCLC]) to predict survival after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma.


METHODS
Four hundred ninety consecutive patients who underwent liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma at 4 centers (1985 to 2005) were identified using a registry (US, Belgium, Germany). End points were overall (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). Survival by stage was compared with the log-rank test. Sequential stage-wise discrimination of each system was evaluated using Cox regression.


RESULTS
Three- and 5-year overall survival rates were 71% and 64%, respectively; recurrence-free survival rates were 67% and 61%, respectively. Median followup among 327 living and 308 recurrence-free patients was 40 months. In only three systems--AJCC/UICC, Japanese TNM, and Pittsburgh--were overall and recurrence-free survivals longer for patients with low stage versus more advanced stage. For overall and recurrence-free survivals, sequential stages were different only for AJCC/UICC. In the Japanese TNM system, stages II and I were similar; for Pittsburgh, grades 3 and 2 were similar. For the United Network for Organ Sharing system, stages II and I and stages IVA1 and III were similar. All stages were similar for the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program. For the Japan Integrated Staging, scores 2 and 1 and scores 4 and 3 were similar. In the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer, stage D patients had significantly better survival than patients at stage C.


CONCLUSIONS
The AJCC/UICC staging system provides the best stratification of prognosis for patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. This confirms previous analyses in patients treated with hepatic resection. The AJCC/UICC staging system should be considered for uniform prediction of outcomes after surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Vauthey
Jean-Nicolas
JN
Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Ribero
Dario
D
Abdalla
Eddie K
EK
Jonas
Sven
S
Bharat
Ankit
A
Schumacher
Guido
G
Lerut
Jan
J
Chapman
William C
WC
Hemming
Alan W
AW
Neuhaus
Peter
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000592:standards*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome