Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is recommended as the first line treatment option
for the patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B hepatocellular carcinoma
(HCC), however, treatment strategy and evaluation of effects after TACE has not been fully
established. Recently, sub-stage of BCLC stage B has been proposed and validated, but it
should be validated including a large number of the patients and its refinement should be
discussed. We have validated the sub-stage of BCLC stage B (B1-B4) by comparing overall
survival after TACE, and there was no statistically significant difference in overall survival
after TACE between B1 and B2. After excluding the patients with Child-Pugh point 7 from B1,
the overall survival was significantly better than that of B2. Therefore, up-to-seven criteria is
shown to be a reliable tool for the treatment strategy in the patients with intermediate stage
of HCC. Refinement of sub-stage of BCLC stage B has been proposed by some other institutes,
and it is important to establish novel treatment strategy for the patients with BCLC stage B
after TACE to improve the prognosis of the patients after TACE, and to define the best timing
for conversion to sorafenib or liver transplantation should be discussed. (J Liver Cancer
2016;16:7-11)
Background/Aims Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC)
intermediate stage includes a highly heterogeneous population. Here, we aimed to subclassify
hepatocellular carcinoma with BCLC intermediate stage for better prognostification. Methods Between 2003 and 2008, 325 patients who were newly diagnosed as HCC with
BCLC intermediate stage were considered eligible. Tumor factor and liver function were used
for sub-classification. Overall survival (OS) was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method with a
comparison by log-rank test. Results A total of 325 patients with intermediate stage HCC were analyzed. Patients with
tumor size ≥7 cm, tumor number ≥4 and Child-Pugh class B had the worse OS compared
to those with tumor size <7 cm, tumor number <4 and Child-pugh class A, respectively (all
P<0.05). These three variables affected the OS independently from multivariate Cox regression
analysis (all P<0.05). So, using these three variables, patients were finally sub-classified as
those with fulfilling none of three factors (B-a), one of three factors (B-b), two of three factors
(B-c) and all of three factors (B-d) with the median OS of 39.2, 20.6, 12.0 and 8.3 months with
statistical significances (all P<0.05 between B-a and B-b, between B-b and B-c, and between
B-c and B-d), respectively. Conclusions Sub-classification of HCC with BCLC intermediate stage may be useful in not only
prognostification but also guidance of treatment strategies. (J Liver Cancer 2016;16:17-22)