Relationship between microvessel count and post-hepatectomy survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 14; no. 31; pp. 4915 - 4922
• Main Authors: Nanashima, Atsushi, Nakayama, Toshiyuki, Sumida, Yorihisa, Abo, Takafumi, Takeshita, Hiroaki, Shibata, Kenichirou, Hidaka, Shigekazu, Sawai, Terumitsu, Yasutake, Toru, Nagayasu, Takeshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Division of Surgical Oneology,Department of Translational Medical Sciences,Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences,1-7-1 Sakamoto,Nagasaki 8528501,Japan%Department of Molecular Pathology,Atomic Disease Institute,Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences,1-12-4 Sakamoto,Nagasaki 852-8523,Japan 21.08.2008; The WJG Press and Baishideng
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Antigens, CD34 - analysis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - blood supply; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - mortality; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - surgery; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Hepatectomy - mortality; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Liver Neoplasms - blood supply; Liver Neoplasms - mortality; Liver Neoplasms - surgery; Male; Microcirculation - immunology; Microcirculation - pathology; Middle Aged; Pilot Projects; Proportional Hazards Models; Rapid Communication; Registries; Severity of Illness Index; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; 微脉管; 治疗方法; 肝切除术; 肝细胞癌; Microvessel count; CD34; Modified Japan integrated staging score; Hepatic resection; Hepatocellular Carcinoma
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.14.4915

AIM： To elucidate the relationship between the microvessel count （MVC） by CD34 analyzed by immunohistochemical method and prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） patients who underwent hepatectomy based on our preliminary study. METHODS： We examined relationships between MVC and clinicopathological factors in 128 HCC patients. The modified Japan Integrated Staging score （mJIS） was applied to examine subsets of HCC patients. RESULTS： Median MVC was 178/mm^2, which was used as a cut-off value. MVC was not significantly associated with any clinicopathologic factors or postoperative recurrent rate. Lower MVC was associated with poor disease-free and overall survivals by univariate analysis （P = 0.039 and P = 0.087, respectively） and lower MVC represented an independent poor prognostic factor in disease-free survival by Cox＇s multivariate analysis （risk ratio, 1.64; P = 0.024）, in addition to tumor size, vascular invasion, macroscopic finding and hepatic dysfunction. Significant differences in diseasefree and overall survivals by MVC were observed in HCC patients with mJIS 2 （P = 0.046 and P = 0.0014, respectively）, but not in those with other scores. CONCLUSION： Tumor MVC appears to offer a useful prognostic marker of HCC patient survival, particularly in HCC patients with mJIS 2.