Liver resection and transplantation offer similar 5-year survival for Child-Pugh-Turcotte A HCC-patients with a single nodule up to 5 cm: A multicenter, exploratory analysis

Background and aimThe current guideline of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases recommends liver resection for Child-Pugh-Turcotte A patients with a single hepatocellular carcinoma, total serum bilirubin ≤1 mg/dL and absence of significant portal hypertension. This subset of patients would have a long-term survival comparable to transplantation. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the survival rates in patients with a single nodule ≤5 cm following resection.MethodsMedical records of 105 Child-Pugh-Turcotte A patients who underwent liver resection between 1997 and 2009 were analyzed in 3 countries.ResultsOne, 3-, and 5-year survival rate was 97%, 83%, and 66%, respectively, and no variable that can be assessed prior to liver resection predicted survival probabilities.ConclusionsLiver resection offers 5-year survival similar to transplantation for Child-Pugh-Turcotte A patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and a single nodule up to 5 cm, independently of any patient baseline characteristics.