title: Factors associated with the overall survival of elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the factors associated with overall survival of elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 286 patients with HCC (male/female: 178/108, age: 46-100 years), who were diagnosed and treated by appropriate therapeutic procedures between January 2000 and December 2010, were enrolled in this study. Patients were stratified into two groups on the basis of age: Elderly (≥ 75 years old) and non-elderly (< 75 years old). Baseline clinical characteristics as well as cumulative survival rates were then compared between the two groups. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the factors associated with prolonged overall survival of patients in each group. Cumulative survival rates in the two groups were calculated separately for each modified Japan Integrated Stage score (mJIS score) category by the Kaplan-Meier method. In addition, we compared the cumulative survival rates of elderly and non-elderly patients with good hepatic reserve capacity (≤ 2 points as per mJIS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the elderly group, the proportion of female patients, patients with absence of hepatitis B or hepatitis C viral infection, and patients with coexisting extrahepatic comorbid illness was higher (56.8% vs 31.1%, P < 0.001; 27.0% vs 16.0%, P = 0.038; 33.8% vs 22.2%, P = 0.047; respectively) than that in the non-elderly group. In the non-elderly group, the proportion of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients was higher than that in the elderly group (9.4% vs 0%, P = 0.006). The cumulative survival rates in the elderly group were 53.7% at 3 years and 32.9% at 5 years, which were equivalent to those in the non-elderly group (55.9% and 39.4%, respectively), as shown by a log-rank test (P = 0.601). In multivariate analysis, prolonged survival was significantly associated with the extent of liver damage and stage (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively), but was not associated with patient age. However, on individual evaluation of factors in both groups, stage was significantly (P < 0.001) associated with prolonged survival. Regarding mJIS scores of ≤ 2, the rate of female patients with this score was higher in the elderly group when compared to that in the non-elderly group (P = 0.012) and patients ≥ 80 years of age tended to demonstrate shortened survival.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Survival of elderly HCC patients was associated with liver damage and stage, but not age, except for patients ≥ 80 years with mJIS score ≤ 2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Aiseikai Yamashina Hospital, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohnishi
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Tohru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohkawara
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sawa
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohkawara
authors.forename: Kanji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okanoue
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate