Characterization of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma after curative resection: outcome, prognostic factor, and recurrence

Abstract Background Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a relatively rare subtype of cholangiocarcinoma. The study herein gathered experience of surgical treatment for ICC, and aimed to analyze the prognosis of patients who had received curative-intent liver resection. Methods A total of 216 pa...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kun-Ming Chan, Chun-Yi Tsai, Chun-Nan Yeh, Ta-Sen Yeh, Wei-Chen Lee, Yi-Yin Jan, Miin-Fu Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2018-12-01
Series:BMC Gastroenterology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12876-018-0912-x
Description
Summary:Abstract Background Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a relatively rare subtype of cholangiocarcinoma. The study herein gathered experience of surgical treatment for ICC, and aimed to analyze the prognosis of patients who had received curative-intent liver resection. Methods A total of 216 patients who had undergone curative-intent liver resection for ICC between January 1977 and December 2014 was retrospectively reviewed. Results Overall, the rates of 5-years recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were 26.1 and 33.9% respectively. Based on multivariate analysis, four independent adverse prognostic factors including morphology patterns, maximum tumor size > 5 cm, pathological lymph node involvement, and vascular invasion were identified as affecting RFS after curative-intent liver resection for ICC. Among patients with cholangiocarcinoma recurrence, only 27 (16.9%) were able to receive surgical resection for recurrent cholangiocarcinoma that had a significantly better outcome than the remaining patients. Conclusion Despite curative resection, the general outcome of patients with ICC is still unsatisfactory because of a high incidence of cholangiocarcinoma recurrence after operation. Tumor factors associated with cholangiocarcinoma remain crucial for the prognosis of patients with ICC after curative liver resection. Moreover, aggressive attitude toward repeat resection for the postoperative recurrent cholangiocarcinoma could provide a favorable outcome for patients.
ISSN:1471-230X