Clinicopathological characteristics of multiple primary cancers in hepatobiliary and pancreas malignancies

Aim: The present study was designed to define the clinicopathological characteristics of multiple cancers (MC) in 597 patients with hepatobiliary and pancreas (HBP) malignancies who underwent curative resection, in order to clarify risk factors and prognostic significance.

Patients and methods: Patients' demographics, clinicopathological parameters and survival rates were compared between solitary (SC) and MC HBP malignancies for 267 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 77 with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), 84 with extrahepatic bile duct carcinoma (BDC), 72 with gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) and 97 with pancreatic cancer (PC).

Results: MC was observed in 66 patients (11%) and more than three cancers were observed in 13 (2.2%). The mean age of patients of the MC group was significantly higher than that of the SC group. The proportion of Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors among the MC group was significantly higher than among the SC group. These findings were significant in HCC and ICC. The histopathological aggressiveness of malignancies was lower with HCC, BDC and PC. In HCC, the disease-free survival of MC patients with more than three tumors was significantly lower than those with SC and double cancers. In GBC, the overall survival of the MC group was significantly better than the SC group. In PC, the disease-free and overall survival were significantly better in MC than SC.

Conclusion: Careful follow-up for second or third occurrence of primary malignancies after primary curative treatment for HBP malignancy is necessary.