Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: impact of genetic hemochromatosis on outcome and overall survival after surgical resection

BackgroundThe influence of genetic hemochromatosis (GH) on outcomes following surgical resections for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) has not been evaluated.MethodsAll patients with ICC who underwent a surgical resection between January 1997 and August 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. Risk factors were assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses.ResultsEighty-seven patients were analyzed; 16 of these patients (18.4%) had GH. Among the 71 non-GH patients, 52 (73.2%) and 19 (26.8%) had normal or cirrhotic parenchyma, respectively. There was no significant difference in survival between the GH and non-GH patients. A univariate analysis showed that major hepatectomy (P = 0.012), intraoperative blood transfusion (P = 0.007), tumor size >5 cm (P = 0.006), several nodules (P < 0.001), and microvascular invasion (P = 0.04) were significantly associated with poor survival. A multivariate analysis showed that intraoperative blood infusion (HR 0.37; CI 95% [0.19; 0.71]) and more than one nodule (HR 2.5; CI 95% [1.06; 5.8]) were associated with a lower survival rate.ConclusionAlthough the incidence of GH was high in our series, the presence of GH did not affect the outcomes after a liver hepatectomy for ICC. GH does not appear to increase recurrences or worsen the overall and disease-free survival.