title: An accurate prognostic staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma patients after curative hepatectomy.
abstract: The aim of this study was to develop an accurate predictive system for prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after hepatectomy. We pooled data of clinicopathological features of 234 HCC patients who underwent curative hepatectomy. On the basis of the pooled data, we established a simple predictive staging system (PS score) scored by the mathematical product of tumor number and size, and degree of liver function. We compared the prognostic abilities of the PS score (score 0-3) with those of six well-known clinical staging systems. Then, we found that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in both disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) between patients with different PS scores (PS score 0 vs. 1; PS score 1 vs. 2), and there was a significant difference in DFS, but not OS, between patients with PS score 2 and those with PS score 3. Moreover, the PS score had smaller values of the Akaike information criterion for both DFS and OS than any of the six well-known clinical staging systems. These results suggest that the PS score serves as a simple, accurate predictor for the prognosis of HCC patients after hepatectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokumitsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamesa
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsukuma
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokuhisa
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shoichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hazama
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Engineering Applied Molecular Bioscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Engineering Applied Molecular Bioscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Engineering Applied Molecular Bioscience, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamamoto
authors.affiliation: Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan.
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iizuka
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate