Hepatocellular carcinoma with adjacent organ extension: The enhancement of preoperative transcatheter arterial embolization and the results of surgical resection

A review was conducted on 93 patients with hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent a collective total of 98 resections. A total of 24 hepatic resections were performed on 22 patients who had a serosa-exposed tumor (group A), for which combined resection of the adjacent organs was also required due to gross tumor invasion. The tumors of the group A patients were larger, had a higher incidence of intrahepatic vascular involvement, and were in a more advanced stage than those of the other patients (group B). Nevertheless, there were no differences in operative morbidity and mortality between the two groups. Only ten of the group A patients, who each underwent one operation, had concomitantly resected adjacent organs histologically invaded by HCC, while histological examination revealed adhesions in the remaining surgical specimens of concomitantly resected adjacent organs. More of the group A patients had undergone a preoperative transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE), which may enhance the histological invasion of HCC to the adjacent organs. The median survival times of the group A and B patients were 15.3 months and 40.1 months, respectively (P < 0.05), although whether the concomitantly resected organs were truly invaded by HCC did not influence the prognosis. Thus, en bloc combined resection of HCC-invaded adjacent organs is still advocated even for recurrent tumors; however, for serosa-exposed HCC after TAE, earlier resection is recommended whenever possible to avoid invasion of the adjacent organs.