Surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with advanced portal vein tumor thrombus combined with pre-operative radiotherapy.

Abstract

385 Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with advanced portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) in the main portal trunk (MPT) or the first branch of portal vein has poor prognosis. We attempted a multidisciplinary treatment to irradiate the PVTT prior to surgical resection. In this study, we evaluate the therapeutic effect of preoperative radiotherapy (Pre-RT) for HCC with advanced PVTT. Methods: The postoperative prognosis was retrospectively examined in 75 patients with advanced PVTT out of 1,045 patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC between 1990 and 2015 in our institute. The treatment outcome was compared between the patients who underwent Pre-RT (30Gy/10fr) for PVTT before operation (RT group, n = 34) and patients not underwent Pre-RT (non-RT group, n = 41). Results: Among 75 patients with advanced PVTT, there was no difference in age, sex, extent of PVTT (MPT or first branch of PV), HBV, HCV, T-Bil, PT(%), ICG R15%, Child-Pugh classification, AFP, DCP, intra-operative blood loss, tumor size, tumor number, coexisting hepatic vein or bile duct tumor thrombus, presence of the residual tumor between RT and non-RT group other than adjuvant chemotherapy administration (p = 0.0009). The 5-year overall survival rate of all 75 cases was 18.5%. There was a significant overall survival extension in RT group with 29.4% compared to 16.2% in non-RT group (p = 0.039, log-rank test). Surgery without residual lesions was performed in 64 patients, of which the 5-year recurrence-free survival rate was 10.9%. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate of RT group (n = 30) (16.1%) was significantly better than non-RT group (n = 34) (5.5%) (p = 0.027, log-rank test). Univariate analysis using Cox proportional hazard model demonstrated that the Pre-RT was the only significant prognostic factor (HR 0.595, 95% CI 0.356 - 0.981, p = 0.042) for overall survival, and the Pre-RT and tumor size over 10cm for recurrence-free survival among these patient’s factors. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary treatment combined preoperative radiotherapy to PVTT and subsequent surgical resection improve the prognosis for the patients of HCC with advanced PVTT extend to MPT or first branch of PV.