Relationship between microvessel count and post-hepatectomy survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
To elucidate the relationship between the microvessel count (MVC) by CD34 analyzed by immunohistochemical method and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who underwent hepatectomy based on our preliminary study.


METHODS
We examined relationships between MVC and clinicopathological factors in 128 HCC patients. The modified Japan Integrated Staging score (mJIS) was applied to examine subsets of HCC patients.


RESULTS
Median MVC was 178/mm(2), which was used as a cut-off value. MVC was not significantly associated with any clinicopathologic factors or postoperative recurrent rate. Lower MVC was associated with poor disease-free and overall survivals by univariate analysis (P = 0.039 and P = 0.087, respectively) and lower MVC represented an independent poor prognostic factor in disease-free survival by Cox's multivariate analysis (risk ratio, 1.64; P = 0.024), in addition to tumor size, vascular invasion, macroscopic finding and hepatic dysfunction. Significant differences in disease-free and overall survivals by MVC were observed in HCC patients with mJIS 2 (P = 0.046 and P = 0.0014, respectively), but not in those with other scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Tumor MVC appears to offer a useful prognostic marker of HCC patient survival, particularly in HCC patients with mJIS 2.
Nanashima
Atsushi
A
Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan. a-nanasm@alpha.med.nagasaki-u.ac.jp
Nakayama
Toshiyuki
T
Sumida
Yorihisa
Y
Abo
Takafumi
T
Takeshita
Hiroaki
H
Shibata
Kenichirou
K
Hidaka
Shigekazu
S
Sawai
Terumitsu
T
Yasutake
Toru
T
Nagayasu
Takeshi
T