Fibrosis score impacts survival following resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC): A Surveillance, End Results and Epidemiology (SEER) database analysis

Surgical extirpation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with background fibrosis remains a challenge. This study evaluated impact of fibrosis score on long term outcomes of patients undergoing surgical resection for HCC. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database (2004–2013), complete data on 1433 patients undergoing surgical resection for non-metastatic HCC were identified. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Cox proportional hazards model were used to produce adjusted hazard ratios (HR). In this study, 54% (650/1433) patients had F5-6 fibrosis at the time for surgical resection of HCC. In adjusted models, F5/6 fibrosis significantly reduces overall survival (HR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.34–1.94; p