title: Immediate radical therapy or conservative treatments when meeting the Milan criteria for advanced HCC patients after successful TACE.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases can be successfully downstaged into the Milan criteria; however, immediate radical therapy cannot be applied to all such patients for various reasons. Of the patients who are not eligible for immediate radical therapy, some accept repeated downstaging therapies and some undergo persistent observation. The aim of the present study was to compare long-term survival between these two groups of patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between August 2003 and October 2008, 156 HCC patients successfully received downstaging therapy resulting in compliance with the Milan criteria. Of those, 98 cases accepted radical therapies, including liver transplantation (LT), resection, or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (group 1), and 58 cases underwent repeated transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) or persistent observation (group 2). The baseline characteristics, demographic data, downstaging protocol, and information on long-term outcomes were collected and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were observed in the patient demographic data, downstaging protocols, or tumor characteristics between the two groups. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 92.9, 82.7, and 78.6 %, respectively, in group 1, whereas these rates were 82.8, 65.5, and 48.3 %, respectively, in group 2 (P = 0.046). Among the 58 patients in group 2, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates were 92.3, 65.4, and 46.2 %, respectively, in the repeated TACE group, and 81.3, 65.6, and 50 %, respectively, in the persistent observation group (P = 0.783).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immediate radical therapy should be the first choice for advanced HCC patients who undergo successful TACE, and repeated TACE is unnecessary.
authors.affiliation: Liver Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China, leijianyongdoctor@163.com.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: M Q
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D016461:Chemoembolization, Therapeutic; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004317:Doxorubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019233:Retreatment; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D057832:Watchful Waiting
chemical_list: D016685:Mitomycin; D004317:Doxorubicin; D002945:Cisplatin