Objective: To explore the most appropriate treatment for patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC)>10 cm by using the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification.
Materials and methods: A total of 124 HCC patients undergoing surgery were selected. Disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and prognostic factors were respectively assessed.
Results: This study showed that the cumulative 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates were 79.7%, 59.8% and 41.6% in BCLC-A patients, 76.2%, 9.5% and 0% in BCLC-B patients and 44.9%, 0% and 0% in BCLC-C patients, respectively. The 1-, 3-, 5-year DFS rates were 49%, 24.5% and 9.1% in BCLC-A patients, 7.5%, 0% and 0% in BCLC-B patients, respectively. No BCLC-C patients survived 1 year after surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated that hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), vascular invasion, intra-hepatic metastasis, curative resection, tumor rupture and pathologic differentiation were independent prognostic factors.
Conclusions: Surgery is effective and safe for patients with HCC>10 cm with sufficient hepatic reserve.