Prognostic factors of spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To evaluate the prognostic factors in patients with spontaneously ruptured hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). METHODS: Seventy-nine patients experiencing spontaneous rupture of HCC between April 2004 and August 2014 were enrolled in this study. The clinical features, treatment modalities and outcomes were reviewed. The statistical methods used in this work included univariate analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with log-rank tests, and multivariate analysis using a Cox regression hazard model. RESULTS: Of the 79 patients with HCC rupture, 17(21.5%) underwent surgery, 32(40.5%) underwent transarterial embolization(TAE), and 30(38%) received conservative treatment. The median survival time was 125 d, and the mortality rate at 30 d was 27.8%. Multivariate analysis revealed that lesion length(HR = 1.46, P < 0.001), lesion number(HR = 1.37, P = 0.042), treatment before tumor rupture(HR = 4.36, P = 0.019), alanine transaminase levels(HR = 1.0, P = 0.011), bicarbonate levels(HR = 1.18, P < 0.001), age(HR = 0.96, P = 0.026), anti-tumor therapy during the followup period(HR = 0.21, P = 0.008), and albumin levels(HR = 0.89, P = 0.010) were independent prognostic factors of survival after HCC rupture. The BarcelonaClinic Liver Cancer(BCLC) stage was also an important prognostic factor; the median survival times for BCLC stages A, B and C were 251, 175 and 40 d, respectively(P < 0.001).CONCLUSION: Anti-tumor therapy during the followup period, without a history of anti-tumor therapy prior to HCC rupture, small tumor length and number, and early BCLC stage are the most crucial predictors associated with satisfactory overall survival. Other factors play only a small role in overall survival.