title: Survival analysis of 904 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in a hepatitis B virus-endemic area.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the clinical characteristics and survival outcomes of a large cohort of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated at a single institute in a hepatitis B virus (HBV)-endemic area.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 2000 and 2003, 904 patients with HCC treated at our institute were enrolled, and followed until 2005.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the patients was 56 years and 76.3% were HBV-positive. The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year survival rates were 53.8%, 40.0%, 31.4%, and 25.7%, respectively. The 4-year survival rates for Child-Pugh class A patients treated by resection or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) were 77.3% and 63.2% for those with modified International Union Against Cancer (UICC) stage I or II disease (P = 0.043), and 58.6% and 19.2% for those with modified UICC stage III disease (P < 0.001). In patients with Child-Pugh class A and stage IVa, the median survival times differed between TACE and chemotherapy treatments (6.9 vs 4.0 months, P = 0.003), whereas in patients with stage IVb there was no difference between treatments (8.5 vs 6.1 months, P = 0.173) Serum alpha-fetoprotein level, presence of portal vein tumor thrombosis, Child-Pugh class, tumor, node, and metastasis stage, and the number and type of HCC were all related to prognosis. Significant differences in survival curves were observed among the Japanese Integrated Staging scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study will be helpful in determining the survival outcomes and treatment strategies for HCC patients in HBV-endemic areas.
authors.affiliation: Center for Liver Cancer, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Woo
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Joong-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jun Il
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Tae Hyun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seong Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hong Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Woo Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Eun Kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Chang-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018579:Patient Selection; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C097353:AFP protein, human; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins