Impact of Anatomical Resection on Non-transplantable Recurrence Among Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An International Multicenter Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting Analysis.

Background: Among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the impact of anatomic resection (AR) versus non-anatomic resection (NAR) on non-transplantable recurrence (NTR) remains poorly defined. We sought to compare the risk of NTR among patients treated with AR versus NAR as the primary surgical strategy for HCC.

Methods: Patients with HCC within Milan criteria who underwent curative-intent resection between 2000 and 2020 were identified from an international multi-institutional database. The inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) method was utilized to compare short- and long-term outcomes among patients undergoing AR versus NAR.

Results: Among 1038 patients, 747 (72.0%) patients underwent AR, while 291 (28.0%) patients underwent NAR. After IPTW adjustment, patients who underwent AR had better 5-year recurrence-free survival than individuals treated with NAR (63.9 vs. 52.0%; hazard ratio [HR] 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62-0.99); however, there was no difference in 5-year overall survival (80.2 vs. 75.6%; HR 0.76; 95% CI 0.55-1.05). Notably, individuals who underwent AR were less likely to have a NTR versus individuals treated with NAR (3-year NTR 9.8 vs. 14.4%; HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.40-0.96). In particular, AR was associated with a lower risk of NTR among patients with a medium tumor burden score (TBS) (HR 0.53; 95% CI 0.28-0.99), while the benefit among patients with a low TBS was less pronounced (HR 0.73; 95% CI 0.40-1.32).

Conclusions: AR was associated with a lower risk of NTR and improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) among patients with HCC, especially individuals with higher TBS. An anatomically defined surgical approach should be strongly considered in patients with a higher HCC tumor burden.