Purpose: Surgical resection constitutes the mainstay of curative treatment for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA). Complete tumor clearance can only be achieved with extended liver resections and as such, associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) may facilitate surgical resectability. The present study aims to evaluate the technical feasibility and oncologic outcome of ALPPS in iCCA.
Methods: A set of 14 patients who underwent ALPPS in a single center between 2011 and 2017 were statistically analyzed for perioperative and oncologic outcome.
Results: Of all patients undergoing stage 1 of ALPPS, 12 (86%) patients were subsequently completed in stage 2 surgery. Patients who completed the ALPPS procedure showed a median overall survival (OS) of 4.2 years and a 3-year survival of 64%. Individuals without lymphatic metastases (n = 7) were all alive 1 year after surgery and if deceased, they died more than 4 years after surgery, while no patient with lymphatic metastases (n = 5) was alive 1 year after surgery.
Conclusion: This is the largest single-center experience of ALPPS in iCCA currently available in the literature showing excellent technical feasibility and encouraging overall survival in these patients.
Keywords: ALPPS; Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA); Oncological outcome.