Microvascular invasion does not predict long-term survival in hepatocellular carcinoma up to 2 cm: reappraisal of the staging system for solitary tumors

Predicting hepatocellular carcinoma: A new non-invasive model based on shear wave elastography

BACKGROUND

Integrating conventional ultrasound features with 2D shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) can potentially enhance preoperative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) predictions.

AIM

To develop a 2D-SWE-based predictive model for preoperative identification of HCC.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 884 patients who underwent liver resection and pathology evaluation from February 2021 to August 2023 was conducted at the Oriental Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital. The patients were divided into the modeling group (n = 720) and the control group (n = 164). The study included conventional ultrasound, 2D-SWE, and preoperative laboratory tests. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify independent predictive factors for malignant liver lesions, which were then depicted as nomograms.

RESULTS

In the modeling group analysis, maximal elasticity (Emax) of tumors and their peripheries, platelet count, cirrhosis, and blood flow were independent risk indicators for malignancies. These factors yielded an area under the curve of 0.77 (95% confidence interval: 0.73-0.81) with 84% sensitivity and 61% specificity. The model demonstrated good calibration in both the construction and validation cohorts, as shown by the calibration graph and Hosmer-Lemeshow test (P = 0.683 and P = 0.658, respectively). Additionally, the mean elasticity (Emean) of the tumor periphery was identified as a risk factor for microvascular invasion (MVI) in malignant liver tumors (P = 0.003). Patients receiving antiviral treatment differed significantly in platelet count (P = 0.002), Emax of tumors (P = 0.033), Emean of tumors (P = 0.042), Emax at tumor periphery (P < 0.001), and Emean at tumor periphery (P = 0.003).

CONCLUSION

2D-SWE's hardness value serves as a valuable marker for enhancing the preoperative diagnosis of malignant liver lesions, correlating significantly with MVI and antiviral treatment efficacy.

Predicting microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma with a CT- and MRI-based multimodal deep learning model

PURPOSE

To investigate the value of a multimodal deep learning (MDL) model based on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for predicting microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

A total of 287 patients with HCC from our institution and 58 patients from another individual institution were included. Among these, 119 patients with only CT data and 116 patients with only MRI data were selected for single-modality deep learning model development, after which select parameters were migrated for MDL model development with transfer learning (TL). In addition, 110 patients with simultaneous CT and MRI data were divided into a training cohort (n = 66) and a validation cohort (n = 44). We input the features extracted from DenseNet121 into an extreme learning machine (ELM) classifier to construct a classification model.

RESULTS

The area under the curve (AUC) of the MDL model was 0.844, which was superior to that of the single-phase CT (AUC = 0.706-0.776, P < 0.05), single-sequence MRI (AUC = 0.706-0.717, P < 0.05), single-modality DL model (AUCall-phase CT = 0.722, AUCall-sequence MRI = 0.731; P < 0.05), clinical (AUC = 0.648, P < 0.05), but not to that of the delay phase (DP) and in-phase (IP) MRI and portal venous phase (PVP) CT models. The MDL model achieved better performance than models described above (P < 0.05). When combined with clinical features, the AUC of the MDL model increased from 0.844 to 0.871. A nomogram, combining deep learning signatures (DLS) and clinical indicators for MDL models, demonstrated a greater overall net gain than the MDL models (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The MDL model is a valuable noninvasive technique for preoperatively predicting MVI in HCC.

Optimizing hepatocellular carcinoma disease staging systems by incorporating tumor micronecrosis: A multi-institutional retrospective study

Tumor micronecrosis is a pathological feature that reflects malignant biological behavior in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, whether micronecrosis can optimize HCC staging systems remains unilluminated. A total of 1632 HCC patients who underwent curative hepatectomy in four institutions from January 2014 to December 2021 were enrolled in this study. Independent prognostic factors were identified, and optimized staging models were established using a training cohort (n = 934). The performance of optimized staging models was validated using an external cohort consisting of cases from three other institutions (n = 232). In addition, patients from our prospectively collected database (n = 379) tested the application effectiveness of the models. Harrel's c-statistics and the corrected Akaike information criterion (AICc) were used to assess the performance of staging models. In most of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) and tumor (T) stages, HCC patients with tumor micronecrosis showed poorer prognosis than those without. Tumor micronecrosis, microvascular invasion, multiple tumors and tumor size >2 cm were independent prognostic-related factors. The BCLC and T staging models incorporating tumor micronecrosis showed better performance than the original systems (c-statistic, 0.712 and 0.711 vs. 0.664 and 0.679; AICc, 2314.8 and 2322.3 vs. 2338.2 and 2338.1; respectively). Furthermore, the external validation cohort confirmed that the optimized staging models had improved efficiency compared with the original ones. Moreover, the prospective cohort demonstrated the applicability of the optimized staging systems. Tumor micronecrosis plays a stage-ascending role in HCC patients. The BCLC and T staging systems incorporating tumor micronecrosis can improve the prognosis stratification efficiency of patients.

Multiple Machine-Learning Fusion Model Based on Gd-EOB-DTPA-Enhanced MRI and Aminotransferase-to-Platelet Ratio and Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase-to-Platelet Ratio to Predict Microvascular Invasion in Solitary Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Multicenter Study

Background

Currently, it is still confused whether preoperative aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio (APRI) and gamma-glutamyl transferase-to-platelet ratio (GPR) can predict microvascular invasion (MVI) in solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to develop and validate a machine-learning integration model for predicting MVI using APRI, GPR and gadoxetic acid disodium (Gd-EOB-DTPA) enhanced MRI.

Methods

A total of 314 patients from XinQiao Hospital of Army Medical University were divided chronologically into training set (n = 220) and internal validation set (n = 94), and recurrence-free survival was determined to follow up after surgery. Seventy-three patients from Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital and Luzhou People's Hospital served as external validation set. Overall, 387 patients with solitary HCC were analyzed as whole dataset set. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, tenfold cross-validation and multivariate logistic regression were used to gradually filter features. Six machine-learning models and an ensemble of the all models (ENS) were built. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and decision curve analysis were used to evaluate model's performance.

Results

APRI, GPR, HBPratio3 ([liver SI‒tumor SI]/liver SI), PLT, peritumoral enhancement, non-smooth margin and peritumoral hypointensity were independent risk factors for MVI. Six machine-learning models showed good performance for predicting MVI in training set (AUCs range, 0.793-0.875), internal validation set (0.715-0.832), external validation set (0.636-0.746) and whole dataset set (0.756-0.850). The ENS achieved the highest AUCs (0.879 vs 0.858 vs 0.839 vs 0.851) in four cohorts with excellent calibration and more net benefit. Subgroup analysis indicated that ENS obtained excellent AUCs (0.900 vs 0.809 vs 0.865 vs 0.908) in HCC >5cm, ≤5cm, ≤3cm and ≤2cm cohorts. Kaplan‒Meier survival curves indicated that ENS achieved excellent stratification for MVI status.

Conclusion

The APRI and GPR may be new potential biomarkers for predicting MVI of HCC. The ENS achieved optimal performance for predicting MVI in different sizes HCC and may aid in the individualized selection of surgical procedures.

Novel nomograms based on microvascular invasion grade for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma after curative hepatectomy

Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a critical risk factor for postoperative recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to firstly develop and validate nomograms based on MVI grade for predicting recurrence, especially early recurrence, and overall survival in patients with early-stage HCC after curative resection. We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients with early-stage HCC who underwent curative hepatectomy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University (FHFU) and Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University (MHH). Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyse disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Nomogram models were constructed on the datasets from the 70% samples of and FHFU, which were validated using bootstrap resampling with 30% samples as internal validation and data of patients from MHH as external validation. A total of 703 patients with early-stage HCC were included to create a nomogram for predicting recurrence or metastasis (DFS nomogram) and a nomogram for predicting survival (OS nomogram). The concordance indexes and calibration curves in the training and validation cohorts showed optimal agreement between the predicted and observed DFS and OS rates. The predictive accuracy was significantly better than that of the classic HCC staging systems.

Resection Versus Transplant for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: How to Offer the Best Modality

Liver resection and liver transplantation are the mainstay of treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Patient comorbidities, tumor resectability, and perioperative morbidity and mortality risk, specifically of post-hepatectomy liver failure, are determining factors when deciding between liver resection and liver transplantation in patients who do not have an obvious contraindication to either treatment. Liver resection is preferred in patients without cirrhosis, and it may be a reasonable choice in patient with cirrhosis but preserved liver function and no portal hypertension if the size and function of the future liver remnant are appropriate, especially if organ availability is scarce.

Enhancing preoperative diagnosis of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma: domain-adaptation fusion of multi-phase CT images

Objectives

In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), accurately predicting the preoperative microvascular invasion (MVI) status is crucial for improving survival rates. This study proposes a multi-modal domain-adaptive fusion model based on deep learning methods to predict the preoperative MVI status in HCC.

Materials and methods

From January 2008 to May 2022, we collected 163 cases of HCC from our institution and 42 cases from another medical facility, with each case including Computed Tomography (CT) images from the pre-contrast phase (PCP), arterial phase (AP), and portal venous phase (PVP). We divided our institution's dataset (n=163) into training (n=119) and test sets (n=44) in an approximate 7:3 ratio. Additionally, we included cases from another institution (n=42) as an external validation set (test1 set). We constructed three single-modality models, a simple concatenated multi-modal model, two current state-of-the-art image fusion model and a multi-modal domain-adaptive fusion model (M-DAFM) based on deep learning methods. We evaluated and analyzed the performance of these constructed models in predicting preoperative MVI using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), decision curve analysis (DCA), and net reclassification improvement (NRI) methods.

Results

In comparison with all models, M-DAFM achieved the highest AUC values across the three datasets (0.8013 for the training set, 0.7839 for the test set, and 0.7454 for the test1 set). Notably, in the test set, M-DAFM's Decision Curve Analysis (DCA) curves consistently demonstrated favorable or optimal net benefits within the 0-0.65 threshold probability range. Additionally, the Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) values between M-DAFM and the three single-modal models, as well as the simple concatenation model, were all greater than 0 (all p < 0.05). Similarly, the NRI values between M-DAFM and the two current state-of-the-art image fusion models were also greater than 0. These findings collectively indicate that M-DAFM effectively integrates valuable information from multi-phase CT images, thereby enhancing the model's preoperative predictive performance for MVI.

Conclusion

The M-DAFM proposed in this study presents an innovative approach to improve the preoperative predictive performance of MVI.

Circulating tumor cells participate in the formation of microvascular invasion and impact on clinical outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor worldwide. Although the treatment strategies have been improved in recent years, the long-term prognosis of HCC is far from satisfactory mainly due to high postoperative recurrence and metastasis rate. Vascular tumor thrombus, including microvascular invasion (MVI) and portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), affects the outcome of hepatectomy and liver transplantation. If vascular invasion could be found preoperatively, especially the risk of MVI, more reasonable surgical selection will be chosen to reduce the risk of postoperative recurrence and metastasis. However, there is a lack of reliable prediction methods, and the formation mechanism of MVI/PVTT is still unclear. At present, there is no study to explore the possibility of tumor thrombus formation from a single circulating tumor cell (CTC) of HCC, nor any related study to describe the possible leading role and molecular mechanism of HCC CTCs as an important component of MVI/PVTT. In this study, we review the current understanding of MVI and possible mechanisms, discuss the function of CTCs in the formation of MVI and interaction with immune cells in the circulation. In conclusion, we discuss implications for potential therapeutic targets and the prospect of clinical treatment of HCC.

Effect of vessels that encapsulate tumor clusters (VETC) on the prognosis of different stages of hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy

BACKGROUND

Vessels that encapsulate tumor clusters (VETC) is a newly discovered vascular pattern in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), representing high biological aggressiveness. However, it remains unclear whether the prognostic impact of VETC differs in patients with different staged HCC. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of VETC on the prognosis of patients with HCC at different stages after hepatectomy.

METHODS

Patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC between January 2005 and December 2019 were assessed, and stratified according to their Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared between patients with and without VETC. Independent risk factors of OS and DFS were determined by multivariable Cox regression analyses.

RESULTS

A total of 837 consecutive patients undergoing curative hepatectomy were enrolled, and VETC pattern was found in 339 (40.5%) patients. The incidence of VETC in patients at BCLC-0, BCLC-A, BCLC-B and BCLC-C stage was 17.8%, 40.2%, 53.7% and 66.0%, respectively. In the entire patients, VETC+ patients had significantly lower OS and DFS than VETC- patients. After stratification of patients according to BCLC stage, VETC was associated with worse OS and DFS only in patients at BCLC-A and BCLC-B stages, but not in those at BCLC-0 and BCLC-C stages. Multivariable analyses also revealed that VETC was an independent risk factor for OS and DFS in both the patients at BCLC-A and BCLC-B stages.

CONCLUSIONS

VETC is associated with poor OS and DFS in patients with HCC at BCLC-A and BCLC-B stage after hepatectomy, but it does not affect the survival of patients with HCC at BCLC-0 and BCLC-C stage after hepatectomy.

Development and Validation of Novel Models Including Tumor Micronecrosis for Predicting the Postoperative Survival of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background

The heterogeneity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) leads to the unsatisfying predictive performance of current staging systems. HCC patients with pathological tumor micronecrosis have an immunosuppressive microenvironment. We aimed to develop novel prognostic models by integrating micronecrosis to predict the survival of HCC patients after hepatectomy more precisely.

Methods

We enrolled 765 HCC patients receiving curative hepatic resection. They were randomly divided into a training cohort (n= 536) and a validation cohort (n = 229). We developed two prognostic models for postoperative recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) based on independent factors identified through multivariate Cox regression analyses. The predictive performance was assessed using the Harrell concordance index (C-index) and the time-dependent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, compared with six conventional staging systems.

Results

The RFS and OS nomograms were developed based on tumor micronecrosis, tumor size, albumin-bilirubin grade, tumor number and prothrombin time. The C-indexes for the RFS nomogram and OS nomogram were respectively 0.66 (95% CI, 0.62-0.69) and 0.74 (95% CI, 0.69-0.79) in the training cohort, which was significantly better than those of the six common staging systems (0.52-0.61 for RFS and 0.53-0.63 for OS). The results were further confirmed in the validation group, with the C-indexes being 0.66 and 0.77 for the RFS and OS nomograms, respectively.

Conclusion

The two nomograms could more accurately predict RFS and OS in HCC patients receiving curative hepatic resection, thereby aiding in formulating personalized postoperative follow-up plans.

Validation of a supplementary condition of eighth AJCC staging system for stage II hepatocellular carcinoma

INTRODUCTION

The eighth American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system was flawed regarding the prognosis of stage II hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aims of this study were to reveal the defect and make updates.

METHODS

Clinical and survival data of HCC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database were used. We re-classified stage II into T2aN0M0 (tumors >2 cm with vascular invasion) and T2bN0M0 (multiple tumors ≤5 cm). The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to estimate differences in overall survival (OS). Three propensity score matching analyses without (PSM1) or with (PSM2 and PSM3) consideration of surgical treatment were performed. Cox regression was used to reveal risk factors.

RESULTS

HCC patients identified as T1bN0M0, T2aN0M0, T2bN0M0, and T3N0M0 were recruited. OS in T2N0M0 was consistent with the eighth AJCC staging system after PSM1. T2bN0M0 had increased OS compared with T2aN0M0 after PSM2 (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-1.73; P = 0.0141) or PSM3 (HR = 1.18; 95%CI = 1.01-1.37; P = 0.0283). No survival benefit existed between T1bN0M0 and T2bN0M0 after PSM2 (HR = 0.92; 95%CI = 0.80-1.05; P = 0.2171) or PSM3 (HR = 0.92; 95%CI = 0.84-1.01; P = 0.0888). Compared with T2aN0M0, T3N0M0 had shorter OS after PSM2 (HR = 0.64; 95%CI = 0.50-0.82; P = 0.0003) or PSM3 (HR = 0.63; 95%CI = 0.54-0.73; P < 0.0001). Cox regression analysis revealed that surgical treatment was associated with better prognosis (HR = 0.3; 95%CI = 0.3-0.4; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The current staging for T2N0M0 is imprecise because surgical treatment is not adequately evaluated and would be ineffective if the proportion of T2bN0M0 patients with surgical treatment was increased.

Overall survival among patients who undergo resection does not differ significantly between T1a and T1b hepatocellular carcinoma based on the 8th American Joint Commission on Cancer

PURPOSE

The 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been used since 2018. However, whether any significant difference in overall survival (OS) exists between patients with T1a and T1b HCC who undergo resection has been controversial. We aim to clarify this issue.

METHODS

We consecutively enrolled newly diagnosed HCC patients who underwent liver resection (LR) from 2010 to 2020 at our institution. OS was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using log-rank tests. Prognostic factors for OS were identified by multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

This study enrolled 1250 newly diagnosed HCC patients who underwent LR. No significant differences in OS were identified between patients with T1a and T1b tumors among all patients (p = 0.694), cirrhotic patients (p = 0.753), non-cirrhotic patients (p = 0.146), patients with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) > 20 ng/ml (p = 0.562), patients with AFP ≤ 20 ng/ml (p = 0.967), patients with Edmondson grade 1 or 2 (p = 0.615), patients with Edmondson grade 3 or 4 (p = 0.825), patients positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg; p = 0.308), in patients positive for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody (p = 0.781), or patients negative for both HBsAg and anti-HCV antibody (p = 0.125). Using T1a as the reference, multivariate analysis showed that T1b is not a significant predictive factor for OS (hazard ratio (HR): 1.338; 95% confidence interval (CI):0.737-2.431; p = 0.339).

CONCLUSION

No significant difference in OS was observed between patients who underwent LR to treat T1a and T1b HCC tumors.

Advances in post-operative prognostic models for hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies and a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Surgery remains the primary and most successful therapy option for the treatment of early- and mid-stage HCCs, but the high heterogeneity of HCC renders prognostic prediction challenging. The construction of relevant prognostic models helps to stratify the prognosis of surgically treated patients and guide personalized clinical decision-making, thereby improving patient survival rates. Currently, the prognostic assessment of HCC is based on several commonly used staging systems, such as Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM), Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP), and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC). Given the insufficiency of these staging systems and the aim to improve the accuracy of prognostic prediction, researchers have incorporated further prognostic factors, such as microvascular infiltration, and proposed some new prognostic models for HCC. To provide insights into the prospects of clinical oncology research, this review describes the commonly used HCC staging systems and new models proposed in recent years.

Microscopic vascular invasion may not be associated with survival of patients undergoing resection for solitary hepatoma of ≤ 2 cm

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE

To determine the impact of microvascular invasion (MVI) on outcome in patients with solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of ≤ 2 cm undergoing liver resection (LR).

METHODS

This retrospective study enrolled consecutive patients between 2007-2019 with newly diagnosed solitary HCC ≤ 2 cm who were undergoing LR at our institution. Overall survival (OS) and recurrent-free survival (RFS) were compared between patients with or without MVI.

RESULTS

Of the 229 patients included in this study, 71 had MVI. The median follow-up period was 28.8 months (interquartile range: 13.5-70.1). Although the 90-day mortality rate was 0, 18 deaths occurred during the study, and the 5-year survival rate was 87.1%. Tumor recurrence occurred in 45 cases, and 5-year RFS was 71.9%. The presence or absence of MVI did not significantly affect the OS and RFS rates (log rank test, p = 0.10 and 0.38, respectively). In univariate and multivariate analysis, the presence of MVI was not associated with OS and RFS.

CONCLUSION

The presence of MVI was not associated with OS and RFS in patients with solitary HCC ≤ 2 cm who underwent LR in this cohort.

Subcentimeter Nodules with Diagnostic Hallmarks of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Comparison of Pathological Features and Survival Outcomes with Nodules Measuring 1-2 cm

Objective

To compare the pathologic diagnosis and survival of patients with subcentimeter and 1-2 cm nodules that present with diagnostic hallmarks of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods

Diagnostic hallmarks of HCC were defined as hyperintensity on T2 weighted imaging, restricted diffusion, arterial phase hyperenhancement, washout on portal venous phase, and hypointensity on hepatobiliary phase. We retrospectively included 139 patients undergoing curative resection with single nodules ≤2 cm that present imaging features described above on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI. The final diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological assessment. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) was compared using Kaplan-Meier analysis with the Log-rank test. Factors associated with overall and early recurrence were identified using Cox regression analysis.

Results

Among 139 nodules (49 nodules <1 cm), there was no significant difference in the percentage of HCC between subcentimeter and 1-2 cm nodules (94.0% vs 94.4%, P > 0.999). Microvascular invasion (MVI) was less common in subcentimeter HCC (4.3% vs 17.6%, P = 0.032). There were 27 recurrences during a median follow-up time of 46.7 months. Patients with subcentimeter HCC achieved less recurrence, with a 5-year RFS rate of 87.3%. The MVI-positive patients had more early and overall recurrence. A tumor size <1 cm was associated with lower overall recurrence (HR, 0.336; P = 0.047). No factors were independently associated with early recurrence.

Conclusion

Subcentimeter nodules with diagnostic hallmarks of HCC are highly associated with HCC diagnosis and achieve less tumor recurrence after resection. Early diagnosis and treatment of subcentimeter HCC may be more appropriate.

Expert Insights on Current Treatments for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Clinical and Molecular Approaches and Bottlenecks to Progress

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver tumor that typically occurs in the setting of chronic liver disease/cirrhosis. Treatment modalities for HCC have evolved and given the variety of treatment options, a multi-disciplinary approach requiring input from surgical, medical, and radiation oncology, hepatology, and interventional radiology is necessary. Multiple advances have been made over the last decade regarding treatment of HCC, especially advanced disease. Resection and transplantation remain as cornerstone curative-intent treatment options. For patients who are not candidates for curative-intent therapy, exciting progress has been made in molecular and cellular approaches to systemic therapy for HCC including immunotherapies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Although the prognosis for advanced HCC remains poor, the armamentarium of therapies has increased, and valuable years of life can be gained with these therapies. While the main therapeutic modality for early-stage disease remains resection, multimodal immunotherapy has emerged as first-line treatment for advanced disease. We herein review different clinical and molecular treatment modalities related to the treatment of HCC, as well as provide insights into future directions for HCC treatment. We highlight how research and progress are needed to move into a new era of molecular and cellular treatments.

Liver resection for single large hepatocellular carcinoma: a prognostic factors study

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Liver resection is the only curative therapeutic option for large hepatocellular carcinoma (&gt; 5 cm), but survival is worse than in smaller tumours, mostly due to the high recurrence rate. There is currently no proper tool for stratifying relapse risk. Herein, we investigated prognostic factors before hepatectomy in patients with a single large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We retrospectively identified 119 patients who underwent liver resection for a single large HCC in 2 tertiary academic French centres and collected pre- and post-operative clinical, biological and radiological features. The primary outcome was overall survival at five years. Secondary outcomes were recurrence-free survival at five years and prognostic factors for recurrence.

RESULTS

A total of 84% of the patients were male, and the median age was 66 years old (IQR 58-74). Thirty-nine (33%) had Child-Pugh A cirrhosis, and the mean Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was 6 (6-6). The aetiology of liver disease was predominantly alcohol-related (48%), followed by nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (22%), hepatitis B (18%) and hepatitis C (10%). The mean tumour size was 70 mm (55-110). The median overall survival was 72.5 months (IC 95%: 56.2-88.7), and the five-year overall survival was 55.1 ± 5.5%. The median recurrence-free survival was 26.6 months (95% CI: 16.0-37.1), and the five-year recurrence-free survival rate was 37.8 ± 5%. In multivariate analysis, preoperative prognostic factors for recurrence were baseline alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) &gt; 7 ng/mL (p&lt;0.001), portal veinous invasion (p=0.003) and cirrhosis (p=0.020). Using these factors, we created a simple recurrence-risk scoring system that classified three groups with distinct disease-free survival medians (p&lt;0.001): no risk factors (65 months), 1 risk factor (36 months), and ≥2 risk factors (8.9 months).

CONCLUSION

Liver resection is the only curative option for large HCC, and we confirmed that survival could be acceptable in experienced centres. Recurrence is the primary issue of surgery, and we proposed a simple preoperative score to help identify patients with the most worrisome prognosis and possible candidates for combined therapy.

Efficacy of Postoperative Adjuvant Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients With Microscopic Portal Vein Invasion

Background

Microscopic portal vein invasion (MPVI) strongly predicts poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aims to investigate the impact of MPVI on the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE).

Methods

From April 2014 to July 2019, a total of 512 HCC patients who underwent curative liver resection (LR) with microscopic vascular invasion (MVI) confirmed by histopathological examination were enrolled and divided into LR alone and PA-TACE groups. They were subsequently stratified into subgroups according to the presence of MPVI. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using Kaplan–Meier curves and the log-rank test. The efficacy of PA-TACE was tested using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Sensitivity analysis was conducted after propensity score matching (PSM).

Results

Among all patients, 165 (32.3%) patients underwent PA-TACE, and 196 (38.2%) patients presented MPVI. In the entire cohort, PA-TACE and the presence of MPVI were identified as independent predictors for RFS and OS (all p<0.05). In the subgroup analysis, patients without MPVI who received PA-TACE had significantly better outcomes than those who underwent LR alone before and after PSM (all p<0.05). For patients with MPVI, PA-TACE displayed no significant benefit in terms of improving either RFS or OS, which was consistent with the results from the PSM cohort.

Conclusion

Among the HCC patients without MPVI who underwent curative liver resection, those who received PA-TACE had better RFS and OS outcomes than those who underwent LR alone. For patients with MPVI, PA-TACE had no significant effect on either RFS or OS outcomes.

Tumor Size, Not Small Vessel Invasion, Predicts Survival in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

OBJECTIVES

The 8th edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been criticized for failing to stratify patients. We aimed to reassess and modify the tumor staging criteria for HCC.

METHODS

Three independent study cohorts were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

The initial cohort consists of 103 patients with HCC. By Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the 8th edition failed to distinguish between T1b and T2. Only tumor size and large vessel invasion, but not small vessel invasion or other histopathologic parameters, predicted HCC survival. We modified the T staging criteria by eliminating small vessel invasion while emphasizing tumor size in the middle categories (T2 and T3), which achieved more even distribution of cases and significantly improved risk stratifications (P < .001). This modification was then validated in a cohort of 250 consecutive patients from Mount Sinai Hospital and an online Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data set comprising 9,685 patients, which showed similar results. Small vessel invasion was not an independent prognostic factor in either validation cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that tumor size, but not small vessel invasion, predicts survival in patients with HCC. We suggest incorporating our modified T staging criteria in future AJCC revisions.

Clinical versus radiographical factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis in high-risk patients: sizes matter

Aim:

This study aimed to evaluate if clinical or radiographic findings can be used for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnosis particularly in high-risk patients.

Methods:

This was a prospective study and evaluated factors associated with HCC.

Results:

There were 260 patients met the study criteria: 219 patients (84.23%) were HCC. Two factors significantly associated with HCC: portal vein invasion and the largest mass size. The cutoff point for the largest mass size of 2 cm or over gave sensitivity and specificity for HCC of 83.56 and 87.80%, respectively.

Conclusion:

Portal vein invasion and the largest liver mass of 2 cm or over may be diagnostic factors for HCC in high-risk patients, while clinical factors were not suggestive for HCC.

Radiographic findings are suggestive for liver cancer and can be used to diagnose liver cancer in patients at risk for liver cancer.

Preoperative Microvascular Invasion Prediction to Assist in Surgical Plan for Single Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Better Together with Radiomics

BACKGROUND

Prediction models with or without radiomic analysis for microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been reported, but the potential for model-predicted MVI in surgical planning is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to explore the effect of predicted MVI on early recurrence after anatomic resection (AR) and non-anatomic resection (NAR) to assist surgical strategies.

METHODS

Patients with a single HCC of 2-5 cm receiving curative resection were enrolled from 2 centers. Their data were used to develop (n = 230) and test (n = 219) two prediction models for MVI using clinical factors and preoperative computed tomography images. The two prediction models, clinico-radiologic model and clinico-radiologic-radiomic (CRR) model (clinico-radiologic variables + radiomic signature), were compared using the Delong test. Early recurrence based on model-predicted high-risk MVI was evaluated between AR (n = 118) and NAR (n = 85) via propensity score matching using patient data from another 2 centers for external validation.

RESULTS

The CRR model showed higher area under the curve values (0.835-0.864 across development, test, and external validation) but no statistically significant improvement over the clinico-radiologic model (0.796-0.828). After propensity score matching, difference in 2-year recurrence between AR and NAR was found in the CRR model predicted high-risk MVI group (P = 0.005) but not in the clinico-radiologic model predicted high-risk MVI group (P = 0.31).

CONCLUSIONS

The prediction model incorporating radiomics provided an accurate preoperative estimation of MVI, showing the potential for choosing the more appropriate surgical procedure between AR and NAR.

Prognostic Value of Microvascular Invasion in Eight Existing Staging Systems for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Bi-Centeric Retrospective Cohort Study

Background

Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a significant risk factor affecting survival outcomes of patients after R0 liver resection (LR) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, whether the existing staging systems of hepatocellular carcinoma can distinguish the prognosis of patients with MVI and the prognostic value of MVI in different subtypes of hepatocellular carcinoma remains to be clarified.

Methods

A dual-center retrospective data set of 1,198 HCC patients who underwent R0 LR was included in the study between 2014 and 2016. Baseline characteristics and staging information were collected. Homogeneity and modified Akaike information criterion (AICc) were compared between each system. And the prognostic significance of MVI for overall survival (OS) was studied in each subgroup.

Results

In the entire cohort, there were no significant survival differences between Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) score 2 and 3 (p = 0.441), and between Taipei Integrated Scoring System (TIS) score 3 and 4 (p = 0.135). In the MVI cohort, there were no significant survival differences between Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stages B and C (p=0.161), CLIP scores 2 and 3 (p = 0.083), TIS scores 0 and 1 (p = 0.227), TIS scores 2 and 3 (p =0.794), Tokyo scores 3 and 4 (p=0.353), and American Joint Committee on Cancer Tumor-Node-Metastasis 7^th stage I and II (p=0.151). Among the eight commonly used HCC staging systems, the Hong Kong Liver Cancer (HKLC) staging system showed the highest homogeneity and the lowest AICc value in both the entire cohort and MVI cohort. In each subgroup of the staging systems, MVI generally exhibited poor survival outcomes.

Conclusions

The HKLC staging system was the most accurate model for discriminating the prognosis of MVI patients, among the eight staging systems. Meanwhile, our findings suggest that MVI may be needed to be incorporated into the current HCC staging systems as one of the grading criteria.

Multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in the era of new biologic agents

With the recent advances in the field of systemic therapy, an increasing number of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are expected to benefit from surgery. However, given the complex background of the disease and frequent presence of underlying liver injury, treatment of advanced HCC is rather complex and the treatment principle applied to colorectal liver metastases, for which conversion surgery has been actively performed, is often not applicable to patients with HCC. To maximize the survival outcomes of patients with HCC, optimization of each step of treatment through a multidisciplinary approach is inevitable. As the initial treatment, systematic removal of the tumor-bearing portal territory is associated with improved survival in patients with solitary HCC, and radiofrequency ablation is also effective for small, oligo HCCs. Although the high incidence of recurrence even after curative-intent treatment is a major issue in HCC, aggressive treatment for recurrence is also important, because a prolonged cancer-free interval is reported to be associated with improved overall survival. For patients with advanced disease, recently introduced molecular-targeted agents may potentially be effective for successful conversion to surgery in initially unresectable cases, although the overall response rate of HCC to systemic therapies remains unsatisfactory as compared to that of colorectal liver metastases. In this report, the theoretical bases for the management of HCC are revisited and the currently used strategies to maximize the survival outcomes in patients with advanced HCC is discussed.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Staging: Differences Between Radiologic and Pathologic Systems and Relevance to Patient Selection and Outcomes in Liver Transplantation

Liver transplant is indicated with curative intent for patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The radiologic T category is used to determine candidacy and priority of patients on the waiting list. After transplant, the explant liver pathologic TNM stage is used as a predictor of postoperative outcomes and overall prognosis. Although the comparison of radiologic and pathologic T categories for concordance is often considered to be straightforward, the staging conventions significantly differ. Not accounting for these differences is in part the reason for the high rates of radiologic-pathologic discordance reported in the literature, with inconsistent terminology being an additional source of confusion when evaluating concordance. These factors may affect the understanding of important radiopathologic phenotypes of disease and the adequate investigation of their prognostic capabilities. The aims of this article are to provide an overview of the pathologic and radiologic TNM staging systems for HCC while describing staging procedures, emphasize the differences between these staging systems to highlight the limitations of radiologic-pathologic stage correlation, present a review of the literature on the prognostic value of individual features used for HCC staging; and signal significant aspects of preoperative risk stratification that could be improved to positively impact posttransplant outcomes.

Value of spiral CT multi-parameter combined preoperative evaluation of microvascular invasion in small liver cancer

Objective:

To explore the value of multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT) in predicting microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods:

The CT and clinical data of 102 patients with HCC were collected for retrospective analysis from January 2018 to December 2020 at Baoji Center Hospital, China. They were divided into two groups based on the pathological results with or without microvascular invasion. The independent sample t-test was used to compare the age, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) value, tumor size, and tumor enhancement of the two groups. CT value; χ² test was used to compare gender, hepatitis type, liver function classification, degree of classification, degree of tumor smoothness, envelope, peripheral enhancement, etc. between the two groups.

Results:

There were 52 cases of non-microvascular invasion and 50 cases of microvascular invasion. The tumor size, grade, degree of margin, capsule, portal vein CT value, and peripheral enhancement were related to microvascular invasion.

Conclusion:

Microvascular invasion of HCC can be predicted by MSCT manifestations before surgery.

The Prognostic Impact of Tumor Differentiation on Recurrence and Survival after Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Is Dependent on Tumor Size

INTRODUCTION

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of poor differentiation and tumor size on survival outcome after hepatic resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

A total of 1,107 patients who underwent initial and curative hepatic resection for HCC without macroscopic vascular invasion participated in the study. Using the multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model, we evaluated changes in hazard ratios (HRs) for the association between tumor differentiation and survival based on tumor size.

RESULTS

In patients with poorly (Por) differentiated HCCs, the adjusted HRs of reduced overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), early RFS, and early extrahepatic RFS were 1.31 (95% confidence interval [CI]; 1.07-1.59), 1.07 (95% CI 0.89-1.28), 1.31 (95% CI 1.06-1.62), and 1.81 (95% CI 1.03-3.17), respectively. Moreover, based on an analysis of the effect modification of tumor differentiation according to tumor size, Por HCC was found to be associated with a reduced OS (p = 0.033). The HRs of Por HCCs sharply increased in patients with tumors measuring up to 5 cm. The adjusted HRs of reduced OS in patients with Por HCCs measuring <2, ≥2 and <5, and ≥5 cm were 1.22 (95% CI 0.69-2.14), 1.33 (95% CI 1.02-1.73), and 1.58 (95% CI 1.04-2.42), respectively. The corresponding adjusted HRs of reduced early RFS were 0.85 (95% CI 0.46-1.57), 1.34 (95% CI 1.01-1.8), and 1.57 (95% CI 1.03-2.39), respectively. The adjusted HRs of reduced early extrahepatic RFS were 1.89 (95% CI 0.83-4.3) in patients with tumors measuring ≥2 and <5 cm and 2.33 (95% CI 0.98-5.54) in those with tumors measuring ≥5 cm.

CONCLUSIONS

Por HCC measuring ≥2 cm was associated with early recurrence. Hence, it had negative effects on OS. After surgery, patients with Por HCC measuring ≥5 cm should be cautiously monitored for early extrahepatic recurrence. These findings will help physicians devise treatment strategies for patients with HCC.

Machine Learning to Improve Prognosis Prediction of Early Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Surgical Resection

Background

Improved prognostic prediction is needed to stratify patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma (EHCC) to refine selection of adjuvant therapy. We aimed to develop a machine learning (ML)-based model to predict survival after liver resection for EHCC based on readily available clinical data.

Methods

We analyzed data of surgically resected EHCC (tumor≤5 cm without evidence of extrahepatic disease or major vascular invasion) patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to train and internally validate a gradient-boosting ML model to predict disease-specific survival (DSS). We externally tested the ML model using data from 2 Chinese institutions. Patients treated with resection were matched by propensity score to those treated with transplantation in the SEER-Medicare database.

Results

A total of 2778 EHCC patients treated with resection were enrolled, divided into 1899 for training/validation (SEER) and 879 for test (Chinese). The ML model consisted of 8 covariates (age, race, alpha-fetoprotein, tumor size, multifocality, vascular invasion, histological grade and fibrosis score) and predicted DSS with C-Statistics >0.72, better than proposed staging systems across study cohorts. The ML model could stratify 10-year DSS ranging from 70% in low-risk subset to 5% in high-risk subset. Compared with low-risk subset, no remarkable survival benefits were observed in EHCC patients receiving transplantation before and after propensity score matching.

Conclusion

An ML model trained on a large-scale dataset has good predictive performance at individual scale. Such a model is readily integrated into clinical practice and will be valuable in discussing treatment strategies.

The guiding value of microvascular invasion for treating early recurrent small hepatocellular carcinoma

INTRODUCTION

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with microvascular invasion (MVI) have worse survival. Whether the presence of MVI indicates the necessity of more aggressive locoregional treatments for recurrences remains to be elucidated.

METHODS

We reviewed patients who underwent curative hepatectomy for primary HCC in our institution, and 379 patients with recurrent HCC up to three nodules smaller than 3 cm were enrolled. The Kaplan-Meier method was adopted to compare the secondary recurrence-free survival (sRFS) and post-recurrence survival (PRS) among patients undergoing hepatectomy, RFA and transarterial chemoembolization plus RFA (TACE-RFA). Cox regression analyses were performed to identify independent prognostic factors.

RESULTS

Both the sRFS and PRS of the MVI (-) group were significantly longer than those of the MVI (+) group (p = 0.001 and 0.011). For patients with MVI (-), no significant difference was found in sRFS or PRS among recurrent HCC patients receiving hepatectomy, RFA or TACE-RFA (p = 0.149 and 0.821). A similar trend was found in patients with MVI (+) (p = 0.851 and 0.960). Further analysis found that TACE-RFA provided better sRFS than hepatectomy or RFA alone in patients with MVI (+) and early recurrence within two years (p = 0.036 and 0.044).

CONCLUSION

For HCC patients with MVI (+) and early small recurrence, TACE-RFA could achieve better prognosis than hepatectomy or RFA alone, while RFA alone provided comparable survival benefits compared with hepatectomy or TACE-RFA in other HCC patients with small recurrence.

Revisiting Surgical Strategies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Microvascular Invasion

Although liver resection (LR) and liver transplantation (LT) are widely considered as potentially curative therapies for selected patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, there is still high risk of tumor recurrence in majority of HCC patients. Previous studies demonstrated that the presence of microvascular invasion (MVI), which was defined as the presence of tumor emboli within the vessels adjacent to HCC, was one of the key factors of early HCC recurrence and poor surgical outcomes after LR or LT. In this review, we evaluated the impact of current MVI status on surgical outcomes after curative therapies and aimed to explore the surgical strategies for HCC based on different MVI status with evidence from pathological examination. Surgical outcomes of HCC patients with MVI have been described as a varied range after curative therapies due to a broad spectrum of current definitions for MVI. Therefore, an international consensus on the validated definition of MVI in HCC is urgently needed to provide a more consistent evaluation and reliable prediction of surgical outcomes for HCC patients after curative treatments. We concluded that MVI should be further sub-classified into MI (microvessel invasion) and MPVI (microscopic portal vein invasion); for HCC patients with MPVI, local R0 resection with a narrow or wide surgical margin will get the same surgical results. However, for HCC patients with MI, local surgical resection with a wide and negative surgical margin will get better surgical outcomes. Nowadays, MVI status can only be reliably confirmed by histopathologic evaluation of surgical specimens, limiting its clinical application. Taken together, preoperative assessment of MVI is of utmost significance for selecting a reasonable surgical modality and greatly improving the surgical outcomes of HCC patients, especially in those with liver cirrhosis.

An excellent nomogram predicts microvascular invasion that cannot independently stratify outcomes of small hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

Whether microvascular invasion is a prognosis factor for small hepatocellular carcinoma (sHCC) is controversial, and a preoperatively predictive model based on gadoxetate disodium (Gd-EOB-DTPA) MRI is clinically needed for MVI in sHCC.

Methods

Between March 2012 and September 2020, 455 consecutive patients with pathologically confirmed HCC ≤3 cm who underwent hepatectomy and preoperative Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI were retrospectively enrolled. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression combined with cox regression were conducted to find the confounding factors in the cohorts. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to balance the biases between MVI and non-MVI groups. Nomogram with C-index visualized the predictive model of MVI.

Results

Multivariate logistic regression identified that 5 characteristics (AFP, tumor size, tumor margin, peritumoral enhancement, radiologic capsule) were markedly associated with MVI of sHCC and incorporated into the nomogram with excellent predictive performance in the training (AUC/C-index: 0.884/0.874, n=288), validation (AUC/C-index: 0.845/0.828, n=123) and test cohorts (AUC/C-index: 0.903/0.954, n=44). Before PSM, histologic MVI independently affected tumor recurrence (hazard ratio: 1.555, 95% CI: 1.055–2.293, P=0.026). However, due to the confounder of tumor size, there was a significant bias between MVI-positive and MVI-negative groups (propensity score: 0.249±0.105 vs. 0.179±0.106, P<0.001). Meanwhile, the frequency of MVI significantly increased as tumor size growing (P<0.001). After PSM, 70 of 79 MVI cases matched with 171 non-MVI (total 332), and no biases were observed between the two groups (propensity score: 0.238±0.104 vs. 0.217±0.109, P=0.186). Although the median recurrence time in non-MVI sHCC was still longer than that in MVI group (74.3 vs. 43.0 months, P=0.063), MVI was not an independent risk factor for RFS in sHCC. Additionally, MVI was not independently vulnerable to mortality in our population.

Conclusions

A preoperative model, mainly based on the peritumoral hallmarks of Gd-EOB-DTPA MRI, showed an excellent performance to predict the occurrence of MVI. Nevertheless, MVI was a potential but not an independent risk factor for recurrence and mortality in sHCC ≤3 cm.

Development and validation of a nomogram combining hematological and imaging features for preoperative prediction of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Background

Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a significant hazard factor that influences the recurrence and survival of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after undergoing hepatectomy. This study aimed to develop and validate a nomogram that combines hematological and imaging features of HCC patients to preoperatively predict MVI, and investigate the effect of wide resection margin (≥1 cm) on the prognosis of MVI-positive HCC patients.

Methods

A total of 709 HCC patients who underwent hepatectomy at the Liver Cancer Institute of Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University between June 1, 2015 and December 30, 2016 were included in this study and divided into training (496 patients) and validation cohort (213 patients). Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regression and multivariable logistic regression were used for variables’ selection and development of the predictive model. The model was presented as a nomogram, and its performance was assessed in terms of discrimination, calibration and clinical usefulness.

Results

Independent prognostic factors such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP, >125 U/L), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP, within 20–400 or >400 ng/mL), protein induced by vitamin K absence-II (PVIKA-II, within 40–400 or >400 mAU/mL), tumor number, diameter, pseudo-capsule, tumor growth pattern and intratumor hemorrhage were incorporated in the nomogram. The model showed good discrimination and calibration, with a concordance index (0.82, 95% CI, 0.782–0.857) in the training cohort and C-index (0.80, 95% CI, 0.772–0.837) in the validation cohort. Decision curve analysis (DCA) also showed that this model is clinically useful. Moreover, HCC patients with wide resection margin had a significantly lower 3-year recurrence rate than those with narrower resection margin (0.5–1 cm).

Conclusions

This study presents an optimal model for preoperative prediction of MVI and shows that wide resection margin for MVI-positive HCC patients has a better prognosis. This model can help surgeons choose the best treatment options for HCC patients before and after the operation.

Comparison of MRI and CT for the Prediction of Microvascular Invasion in Solitary Hepatocellular Carcinoma Based on a Non-Radiomics and Radiomics Method: Which Imaging Modality Is Better?

BACKGROUND

Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are both capable of predicting microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, which modality is better is unknown.

PURPOSE

To intraindividually compare CT and MRI for predicting MVI in solitary HCC and investigate the added value of radiomics analyses.

STUDY TYPE

Retrospective.

SUBJECTS

Included were 402 consecutive patients with HCC (training set:validation set = 300:102).

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE

T2-weighted, diffusion-weighted, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging MRI at 3.0T and contrast-enhanced CT.

ASSESSMENT

CT- and MR-based radiomics signatures (RS) were constructed using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression. CT- and MR-based radiologic (R) and radiologic-radiomics (RR) models were developed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. The performance of the RS/models was compared between two modalities. To investigate the added value of RS, the performance of the R models was compared with the RR models in HCC of all sizes and 2-5 cm in size.

STATISTICAL TESTS

Model performance was quantified by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and compared using the Delong test.

RESULTS

Histopathologic MVI was identified in 161 patients (training set:validation set = 130:31). MRI-based RS/models tended to have a marginally higher AUC than CT-based RS/models (AUCs of CT vs. MRI, P: RS, 0.801 vs. 0.804, 0.96; R model, 0.809 vs. 0.832, 0.09; RR model, 0.835 vs. 0.872, 0.54). The improvement of RR models over R models in all sizes was not significant (P = 0.21 at CT and 0.09 at MRI), whereas the improvement in 2-5 cm was significant at MRI (P < 0.05) but not at CT (P = 0.16).

DATA CONCLUSION

CT and MRI had a comparable predictive performance for MVI in solitary HCC. The RS of MRI only had significant added value for predicting MVI in HCC of 2-5 cm.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

Systemic therapy of liver cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a lethal malignancy with poor prognosis. More than 80% of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and most patients with HCC also have liver cirrhosis that complicates cancer management. No targeted treatment options currently exist outside genomics-based clinical trials. Multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitors (mTKIs) such as sorafenib, lenvatinib, cabozantinib, and regorafenib have been used to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC). Immune checkpoint inhibitors including nivolumab and pembrolizumab have shown survival benefit. More recently, atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab resulted in improved overall survival and progression-free survival, compared with sorafenib in patients with aHCC in the first-line setting. The combination of nivolumab with ipilimumab as an alternative in the treatment of patients treated with sorafenib has inspired various combination studies of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Currently, ongoing studies of systemic therapy consist of various immune-based combination therapies. Finally, there is no established adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy although a few early phase studies show promising results. In this chapter, we summarize current approaches of systemic treatment in patients with liver cancer.

The clinical significance of microvascular invasion in the surgical planning and postoperative sequential treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and most lethal malignant tumors in the world. Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a major risk factor for survival outcomes and intrahepatic metastasis after resection in patients with HCC. Relevant English literatures retrieved using PubMed on the research progress of MVI in patients with HCC were reviewed. For HCC patients, especially those with MVI, it is very important to develop a comprehensive and sequential treatment plan to support the long-term survival of patients. This manuscript reviewed and analyzed the risk factors for MVI; the preoperative prediction of MVI, which informs the selection of surgical strategies; and the current situation and future direction of comprehensive postoperative treatment strategies; to provide a basis for the comprehensive treatment of HCC patients with MVI. For HCC patients with MVI, the preoperative prediction of MVI may play a certain guiding role in planning procedures, and the comprehensive sequential postoperative pathological detection of HCC MVI may provide a basis for treatment decisions.

Lymphatic permeation and vascular invasion should not be integrated as lymphovascular invasion in lung adenocarcinoma

OBJECTIVE

Lymphatic permeation (LY) and vascular invasion (VI) are well-known as postoperative prognostic factors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Some reports use the term "lymphovascular invasion (LVI)" in reference to the integration of LY and VI. The purpose in this study is to elucidate whether NSCLC with LY or VI can be labeled as LVI-positive NSCLC or it should be treated as an LY- or VI-positive tumor, respectively.

METHODS

We reviewed 601 completely resected lung adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas, and examined the respective prognostic and biological significance of LY and VI.

RESULTS

Among 454 adenocarcinomas, multivariate survival analyses showed that LY and VI were unfavorable prognostic factors in stages II and III and stages I and II, respectively. Conversely, this relationship was not found among 147 squamous cell carcinomas. Patients with adenocarcinomas with LY and VI had a significantly worse prognosis than those with adenocarcinomas with LY or VI in stage II, but not in stage I. Among 149 recurrent adenocarcinomas, only VI had a strong effect on early recurrence and shorter post-recurrence survival. LY and VI were predictors for multiple organ recurrence of adenocarcinoma. The recurrence of adenocarcinoma with LY was high in the ipsilateral mediastinal lymph nodes, whereas VI was significantly correlated with distant metastasis to organs, such as the brain, liver, and adrenal gland.

CONCLUSIONS

LY and VI have differing effects postoperative prognosis and recurrence-relevant events, suggesting that these pathological findings should not be integrated as LVI.

Tumor Necrosis Impacts Prognosis of Patients Undergoing Curative-Intent Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

The impact of tumor necrosis relative to prognosis among patients undergoing curative-intent resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains ill-defined.

METHODS

Patients who underwent curative-intent resection for HCC without any prior treatment between 2000 and 2017 were identified from an international multi-institutional database. Tumor necrosis was graded as absent, moderate (< 50% area), or extensive (≥ 50% area) on histological examination. The relationship between tumor necrosis, clinicopathologic characteristics, and long-term survival were analyzed.

RESULTS

Among 919 patients who underwent curative-intent resection for HCC, the median tumor size was 5.0 cm (IQR, 3.0-8.5). Tumor necrosis was present in 367 (39.9%) patients (no necrosis: n = 552, 60.1% vs < 50% necrosis: n = 256, 27.9% vs ≥ 50% necrosis: n = 111, 12.1%). Extent of tumor necrosis was also associated with more advanced tumor characteristics. HCC necrosis was associated with OS (median OS: no necrosis, 84.0 months vs < 50% necrosis, 73.6 months vs ≥ 50% necrosis: 59.3 months; p < 0.001) and RFS (median RFS: no necrosis, 49.6 months vs < 50% necrosis, 38.3 months vs ≥ 50% necrosis: 26.5 months; p < 0.05). Patients with T1 tumors with extensive ≥ 50% necrosis had an OS comparable to patients with T2 tumors (median OS, 62.9 vs 61.8 months; p = 0.645). In addition, patients with T2 disease with necrosis had long-term outcomes comparable to patients with T3 disease (median OS, 61.8 vs 62.4 months; p = 0.713).

CONCLUSION

Tumor necrosis was associated with worse OS and RFS, as well as T-category upstaging of patients. A modified AJCC T classification that incorporates tumor necrosis should be considered in prognostic stratification of HCC patients.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): Epidemiology, etiology and molecular classification

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the primary malignancy of hepatocytes, is a diagnosis with bleak outcome. According to National Cancer Institute's SEER database, the average five-year survival rate of HCC patients in the US is 19.6% but can be as low as 2.5% for advanced, metastatic disease. When diagnosed at early stages, it is treatable with locoregional treatments including surgical resection, Radio-Frequency Ablation, Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization or liver transplantation. However, HCC is usually diagnosed at advanced stages when the tumor is unresectable, making these treatments ineffective. In such instances, systemic therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) becomes the only viable option, even though it benefits only 30% of patients, provides only a modest (~3months) increase in overall survival and causes drug resistance within 6months. HCC, like many other cancers, is highly heterogeneous making a one-size fits all option problematic. The selection of liver transplantation, locoregional treatment, TKIs or immune checkpoint inhibitors as a treatment strategy depends on the disease stage and underlying condition(s). Additionally, patients with similar disease phenotype can have different molecular etiology making treatment responses different. Stratification of patients at the molecular level would facilitate development of the most effective treatment option. With the increase in efficiency and affordability of "omics"-level analysis, considerable effort has been expended in classifying HCC at the molecular, metabolic and immunologic levels. This review examines the results of these efforts and the ways they can be leveraged to develop targeted treatment options for HCC.

Texture analysis on preoperative contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging identifies microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Radiomic texture analysis quantifies tumor heterogeneity. The aim of this study is to determine if radiomics can predict biologic aggressiveness in HCC and identify tumors with MVI.

METHODS

Single-center, retrospective review of HCC patients undergoing resection/ablation with curative intent from 2009 to 2017. DICOM images from preoperative MRIs were analyzed with texture analysis software. Texture analysis parameters extracted on T1, T2, hepatic arterial phase (HAP) and portal venous phase (PVP) images. Multivariate logistic regression analysis evaluated factors associated with MVI.

RESULTS

MVI was present in 52.2% (n = 133) of HCCs. On multivariate analysis only T1 mean (OR = 0.97, 95%CI 0.95-0.99, p = 0.043) and PVP entropy (OR = 4.7, 95%CI 1.37-16.3, p = 0.014) were associated with tumor MVI. Area under ROC curve was 0.83 for this final model. Empirical optimal cutpoint for PVP tumor entropy and T1 tumor mean were 5.73 and 23.41, respectively. At these cutpoint values, sensitivity was 0.68 and 0.5, respectively and specificity was 0.64 and 0.86. When both criteria were met, the probability of MVI in the tumor was 87%.

CONCLUSION

Tumor entropy and mean are both associated with MVI. Texture analysis on preoperative imaging correlates with microscopic features of HCC and can be used to predict patients with high-risk tumors.

The prognostic value of aspartate aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index in early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy: A propensity-score matched analysis

BACKGROUND

An elevated preoperative aspartate aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) may predict poor survival in various cancers. However, the prognostic value of aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be determined.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted among 983 patients with HCC in our hospital from February 2007 to March 2016. A propensity-score matching (PSM) was performed to correct the selection bias and confounding factors. The risk of death and recurrence was plotted over aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) using the locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS)-smoothed fit curve. Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and Kaplan-Meier method analysis was utilized to the role of aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) in HCC. Multivariate analysis was conducted to identify independent prognostic factors associated with overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS).

RESULTS

With the increase of aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI), the risk of recurrence and death in HCC patients increases. In time-dependent ROC analysis, the AUC of aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) for predicting 1-, 3- and 5-year OS were 0.668 (95% CI: 0.596-0.740), 0.605 (95% CI: 0.560-0.649) and 0.613 (95% CI: 0.570-0.656), respective. The AUC of aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) for predicting 1-, 3- and 5-year RFS were 0.598 (95% CI: 0.555-0.641), 0.590 (95% CI: 0.552-0.628) and 0.604 (95% CI: 0.562-0.646), respectively. HCC patients with high aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) had a poor overall survival. Moreover, cox regression analysis revealed that aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) was an independent factor affecting the prognosis of HCC patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated preoperative aminotransferase-to-lymphocyte ratio index (ALRI) is a noninvasive, simple, and effective predictor in the prognosis of patients with HCC.

Prognostic nomograms and risk classifications of outcomes in very early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma patients after hepatectomy

BACKGROUND

Numerous clinical models have been proposed to evaluate and predict recurrence and survival of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in different stages after resection, but no model for very early-stage HCC.

METHODS

The data of 661 very early-stage HCC patients after curative resection in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze recurrence and survival. The risk classifications for recurrence and survival were established by using classification and regression tree analysis. The nomograms were constructed and validated using bootstrap resampling and an independent 186-patient validation cohort from the same institution.

RESULTS

According to the results of multivariate analysis for prognosis after resection, decision trees and 3-stratification classifications that satisfactorily determined the risk of recurrence and survival were established. Based on these two risk classifications, a six-factor nomogram for predicting recurrence and a six-factor nomogram for predicting survival were created. The concordance indexes were 0.64 for recurrence nomogram, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.60-0.67, and 0.76 for survival nomogram, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.70-0.82. The calibration curves showed good agreement between the predictions made by the nomograms and the actual survival outcomes. These predicting results for recurrence and survival were better than three common classical HCC stages and were confirmed in the independent validation cohort.

CONCLUSIONS

The 3-stratification classifications enabled satisfactory risk evaluations of recurrence and survival, and the nomograms showed considerably accurate predictions of the risk of recurrence and survival in very early-stage HCC patients after curative resection.

Systematic review of outcomes and meta-analysis of risk factors for prognosis after liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma without cirrhosis

Long-term overall survival (OS) after liver resection for non-cirrhotic hepatocellular carcinoma (NCHCC) has been reported recently. The aim of this study was to review outcomes systematically and analyze risk factors for survival after surgical resection for HCC without cirrhosis. A literature search was performed of the PubMed and Embase databases for papers published between January 1995 and October 2012, which focused on hepatic resection for HCC without underlying cirrhosis. Cochrane systematic review methodology was used for this review. Outcomes were OS, operative mortality and disease-free survival (DFS). Pooled hazard ratios (HR) were calculated using the random effects model for parameters considered as potential prognostic factors. Totally, 26 retrospective case series were eligible for inclusion. The 1-, 3- and 5-year OS rate after surgical resection of NCHCC ranged from 62% to 100%, 46.3%-78.0%, and 30%-64%, respectively. The corresponding DFS rates ranged from 48.7% to 84%, 31.0%-66.0%, and 24.0%-58.0%, respectively. Five variables were related to poor survival: multiple tumors (HR 1.68, 95%CI 1.25-2.11); larger tumor size (HR 2.66, 95%CI 1.69-3.63); non-clear resection margin (R0 resection) (HR 3.52, 95%CI 1.63-5.42); poor tumor stage (HR 2.61, 95%CI 1.64-3.58); and invasion of the lymphatic vessels (HR 4.85, 95%CI 2.67-7.02). In sum, hepatic resection provides excellent OS rates for patients with NCHCC, and results have tended to improve recently. Risk factors for poor prognosis comprise multiple tumors, lager tumor size, non-R0 resection and invasion of the lymphatic vessels.

How Should We Assign Large Infiltrative Hepatocellular Carcinomas for Staging?

Infiltrative gross morphology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is known to be associated with poor prognosis, but this is not considered for staging. A total of 774 HCC patients who underwent curative liver resection were retrospectively reviewed and the prognostic significance of infiltrative type HCC was assessed using the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging systems. Seventy-four patients (9.6%) had infiltrative HCCs with a higher proportion of multifocal tumors, larger tumors, vessel invasion, increased tumor marker levels, and advanced T-stages than those with nodular HCC (all, p < 0.01). Infiltrative morphology was independently associated with lower overall survival (OS), but its impact was significant when the tumor size was ≥ 4 cm (p < 0.001). Under current AJCC and BCLC staging criteria, these large infiltrative HCCs were associated with significantly worse OS in early AJCC T-stages (T1b/T2, p < 0.001) and BCLC stage A/B (both, p < 0.01) but not in late AJCC (T3/T4) and BCLC C. The reassignment of this subtype to T3 and T4 increased the discriminatory ability of AJCC T-staging with lower AIC values (3090 and 3088 vs. 3109) and higher c-index (0.69 and 0.69 vs. 0.67), respectively (both, p < 0.001). Similarly, the reassignment of large infiltrative HCC to BCLC stages B and C also improved the prognostic performance. Large infiltrative HCCs should be assigned to more advanced stages in current staging systems for their prognostic impact.

Imaging Modalities for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance: Expanding Horizons beyond Ultrasound

In Asian countries favoring loco-regional treatment such as surgical resection or ablation, very early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) should be the main target for surveillance. Even though ultrasound (US) has been accepted as a primary imaging modality for HCC surveillance, its performance in detecting very early-stage HCCs is insufficient. Moreover, in more than 20% of patients at high risk for HCC, visualization of the liver on US may be limited owing to the advanced distortion and heterogeneity of the liver parenchyma. Recently revised HCC clinical guidelines allow the use of alternative surveillance tools including computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging in patients with inadequate US exams. This paper summarizes the findings of recent studies using imaging modalities other than US as surveillance tools for HCC as well as strengths and limitations of these modalities.

Outcomes of Non-B Non-C Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Reference to Patients with Interferon-Induced Hepatitis C Virus Eradication

PURPOSE

This study aimed to evaluate survival outcomes in patients with non-B non-C hepatocellular carcinoma (NBNC-HCC) with reference to patients with HCC achieving sustained virological response (SVR) by preoperative interferon (IFN) treatment for chronic hepatitis C.

METHODS

We examined 781 patients who underwent hepatic resection for HCC. They were classified into NBNC-HCC, SVR-HCC, and non-SVR HCC groups.

RESULTS

Multivariate analysis for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) revealed that the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of NBNC-HCC and non-SVR HCC groups with reference to the SVR-HCC group were 1.46 (p = 0.10) and 2.10 (p < 0.001), respectively, for RFS, and 1.69 (p = 0.024) and 2.11 (p < 0.001), respectively, for OS. Worsening of Child-Pugh grade at recurrence was confirmed in 21 patients (17.1%) with NBNC-HCC but not in those with SVR-HCC (p = 0.017, SVR vs. NBNC). In the NBNC-HCC group, hepatic resection for intrahepatic recurrence was adopted in 17.4% of patients without worsening of Child-Pugh grade at recurrence, whereas hepatic resection was not adopted in those with grade worsening. Among patients with alcoholic hepatitis, Child-Pugh grade worsening at recurrence was more frequently observed in patients with sobriety than those without sobriety (14.3% vs. 46.2%, p = 0.049).

CONCLUSIONS

NBNC-HCC patients had an increased risk for overall death as compared with those with SVR-HCC. Worsening of background liver function may reduce the chances of re-hepatic resection for recurrence and increase the risk for overall death in NBNC-HCC patients. For alcoholic hepatitis patients, sobriety may prevent deterioration of liver function after surgery.

Reclassification of tumor size for solitary HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma by minimum p value method: a large retrospective study

Background and objectives

Tumor size is one of the most important issues for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment and prognosis, but the classification of it is still controversial. The aim of this study was to screen appropriate cutoffs for size of solitary hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC.

Methods

A cohort of 1760 patients with solitary HBV-related HCC undergoing curative liver resection was divided into 11 groups based on tumor size in 1-cm interval. The minimum p value method was used to screen the appropriate size cutoff according to overall survival (OS). If multiple cutoffs meet the above standard, a univariate analysis will be performed by using the Cox proportional hazards regression model, and hazard ratio (HR) will be considered as a criterion to assess the difference in survival.

Results

There are 8 dichotomy, 8 trichotomy, and no inquartation cutoffs that were screened when classifying tumor sizes in accordance with OS. The HR values of tumor size at these trichotomy cutoffs for OS were compared, and the highest HR value is 2.79 when size cutoff is 3/9 cm. Then, we reclassified patients into three new classifications: ≤ 3 cm (n = 422), > 3 and ≤ 9 cm (n = 1072), and > 9 cm (n = 266). The comparison of clinicopathologic characteristics among these three classifications showed that the increase of tumor size was associated with the increase of α-fetoprotein (AFP), microvascular invasion (MVI), tumor differentiation, and liver cirrhosis. And the comparison of the OS among three classifications showed statistical differences.

Conclusions

This study suggested that size criteria of 3 cm and 9 cm in solitary HBV-related HCC patients were appropriate based on biological characteristics and prognostic significance.

Tumor necrosis as a poor prognostic predictor on postoperative survival of patients with solitary small hepatocellular carcinoma

Background

Small hepatocellular carcinoma (sHCC) is a special subtype of HCC with the maximum tumor diameter ≤ 3 cm and excellent long-term outcomes. Surgical resection or radiofrequency ablation provides the greatest chance for cure; however, many patients still undergo tumor recurrence after primary treatment. To date, there is no clinical applicable method to assess biological aggressiveness in solitary sHCC.

Methods

In the current study, we retrospectively evaluated tumor necrosis of 335 patients with solitary sHCC treated with hepatectomy between December 1998 and 2010 from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center.

Results

The presence of tumor necrosis was observed in 157 of 335 (46.9%) sHCC patients. Further correlation analysis showed that tumor necrosis was significantly correlated with tumor size and vascular invasion (P = 0.026, 0.003, respectively). The presence of tumor necrosis was associated closely with poorer cancer-specific overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) as evidenced by univariate (P <  0.001; hazard ratio, 2.821; 95% CI, 1.643–4.842) and multivariate analysis (P = 0.005; hazard ratio, 2.208; 95% CI, 1.272–3.833). Notably, the combined model by tumor necrosis, vascular invasion and tumor size can significantly stratify the risk for RFS and OS and improve the ability to discriminate sHCC patients’ outcomes (P <  0.0001 for both).

Conclusions

Our results provide evidence that tumor necrosis has the potential to be a parameter for cancer aggressiveness in solitary sHCC. The combined prognostic model may be a useful tool to identify solitary sHCC patients with worse outcomes.

Surgical Outcomes of Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Bile Duct Tumor Thrombus: A Korea-Japan Multicenter Study

OBJECTIVE

To identify optimal surgical methods and the risk factors for long-term survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma accompanied by macroscopic bile duct tumor thrombus (BDTT).

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA

Prognoses of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma accompanied by BDTT have been known to be poor. There have been significant controversies regarding optimal surgical approaches and risk factors because of the low incidence and small number of cases in previous reports.

METHODS

Records of 257 patients from 32 centers in Korea and Japan (1992-2014) were analyzed for overall survival and recurrence rate using the Cox proportional hazard model.

RESULTS

Curative surgery was performed in 244 (94.9%) patients with an operative mortality of 5.1%. Overall survival and recurrence rate at 5 years was 43.6% and 74.2%, respectively. TNM Stage (P < 0.001) and the presence of fibrosis/cirrhosis (P = 0.002) were independent predictors of long-term survival in the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Both performing liver resection equal to or greater than hemihepatectomy and combined bile duct resection significantly increased overall survival [hazard ratio, HR = 0.61 (0.38-0.99); P = 0.044 and HR = 0.51 (0.31-0.84); P = 0.008, respectively] and decreased recurrence rate [HR = 0.59 (0.38-0.91); P = 0.018 and HR = 0.61 (0.42-0.89); P = 0.009, respectively].

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical outcomes were mostly influenced by tumor stage and underlying liver function, and the impact of BDTT to survival seemed less prominent than vascular invasion. Therefore, an aggressive surgical approach, including major liver resection combined with bile duct resection, to increase the chance of R0 resection is strongly recommended.