The Short- and Long-Term Outcomes in Elderly Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Curative Surgery: A Case-Controlled Study with Propensity Score Matching

Abstract

Background: With aging populations increasing in developed countries, the prevalence of elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is expected to rise. The aim of this study was to determine the short- and long-term outcomes of HCC surgery in elderly patients (≥75 years) using propensity score matching. Methods: The study group included 421 patients who underwent hepatectomy as their initial treatment with curative intent. The patients were divided into elderly (n = 111) and non-elderly (n = 310) groups. We applied propensity score matching – taking into consideration patient background, blood examination, and tumor factors – to minimize the effect of potential confounders. We then compared the results before and after the propensity matching. Results: Before propensity matching, the elderly group included significantly more patients with a high American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status (p < 0.001). In addition, they were taking antihypertensive drugs or an anticoagulant (both p < 0.001). The severe postoperative complications and the overall survival rates for these elderly patients were significantly poorer than for the non-elderly patients (p = 0.015 and p = 0.030, respectively). We then chose 70 patients from each group for whom the preoperative confounding factors were balanced and compared the two groups. The factors identified before matching (severe complications and overall survival rates) were no longer relevant, i.e. there were no significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: Hepatectomy for HCC in elderly patients is justified.