Characteristics of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in patients with hepatitis B virus infection: clinicopathologic study of resected tumours

Summary Recent efforts suggest an aetiological role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinicopathologic characteristics and surgical outcomes of patients with HBV‐associated ICC. All patients with chronic HBV infection were identified from a database of patients with ICC that underwent surgical resection between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2006. Their clinicopathologic and survival characteristics were compared with ICC patients without chronic HBV infection. The age of the HBV‐associated ICC patients tend to be younger than that of ICC patients without chronic HBV infection. HBV‐associated ICC patients tend to have higher abnormal α‐fetoprotein levels and lower abnormal serum carbohydrate antigen19‐9 (CA19‐9), r‐glutamyltransferase (r‐GT) and alkaline phosphatase levels. The pathologic features of the resected specimens revealed that HBV‐associated ICC patients tended to be of the mass‐forming type have a lower prevalence of lymphatic involvement and poorer tumour differentiation, and a higher prevalence of capsule formation and liver cirrhosis. Patients with HBV‐associated ICC had a significantly better survival than patients without chronic HBV infection. The clinicopathological features of HBV‐associated ICC patients showed significant differences from ICC patients without HBV infection. These tumours are characterized by the mass‐forming growth pattern and appeared to have a more favourable prognosis.