Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization in Elderly Patients with Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma / 中国医学影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Purpose Elderly patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have gradually increased in recent years. Most patients also have systemic disease with poor cardiac and pulmonary function, thus can only receive non-surgical treatment. This paper is to assess the clinical efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and prognostic factors of HCC in elderly patients. Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis was performed in 106 patients with HCC diagnosed by US, dynamic CT or dynamic MRI [average age (74.9±3.3) years, range 71-84 years] and treated by TACE. The clinical characteristics, survival and prognosis factors were analyzed. Results Follow-up was performed at a median of 18 months (range 1–40 months). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates were 80.2%, 42.5% and 22.6%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that the patient's gender and cirrhosis, HBV/HCV infection, diabetes and systemic disease were not significantly correlated with prognosis (P>0.05). Child grade, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) grade, tumors size, number of tumors, serum alpha-fetoprotein level, portal vein tumor thrombus and Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage were significantly related to OS (P<0.05, P<0.001). Moreover, the Cox multivariant survival analysis revealed that portal vein tumor thrombus, tumor size, serum alpha-fetoprotein level and ECOG stage were independent prognostic indicators (P<0.05, P<0.001). Conclusion Systemic disease does not impact long-term survival in elderly patients with HCC. Portal vein tumor thrombus, tumor size, serum alpha-fetoprotein level, and ECOG grade are independent prognostic indicators.