Effectiveness of repeat hepatic resection for patients with recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: Factors associated with long-term outcomes

Background Tumor recurrence after liver resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is common. The effective treatment for recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma remains to be established. This study evaluated the short- and long-term prognoses of patients after repeat hepatic resection for recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Methods Data for 72 patients who underwent R0 repeat hepatic resection for recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma at the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital between 2005 and 2013 were analyzed. Tumor re-recurrence, recurrence-to-death survival, and overall survival were calculated and compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Independent risk factors were identified by Cox regression analysis. Results Operative morbidity and mortality rates were 18.1% and 1.4%, respectively. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year re-recurrence rates were 53.2%, 80.2%, and 92.6%, respectively, and the corresponding recurrence-to-death survival was 82.9%, 53.0%, and 35.3%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival was 97.2%, 67.0%, and 41.9%, respectively. Patients with a time to recurrence of >1 year from the initial hepatectomy achieved higher 1-, 2-, and 3-year recurrence-to-death survival than patients with a time to recurrence of ≤1 year (92.5%, 61.7%. and 46.6% vs 70.4%, 42.2%, and 23.0%, P = .022). Multivariate analysis identified that recurrent tumor >3 cm (hazard ratio: 2.346; 95% confidence interval: 1.288–4.274), multiple recurrent nodules (2.304; 1.049–5.059), cirrhosis (3.165; 1.543–6.491), and a time to recurrence of ≤1 year (1.872; 1.055–3.324) were independent risk factors of recurrence-to-death survival. Conclusion Repeat hepatic resection for recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma was safe and produced long-term survival outcomes in selected patients based on prognostic stratification with the presence of the independent risk factors of recurrence-to-death survival.