Long-term outcomes after hepatectomy of huge hepatocellular carcinoma: A single-center experience in China

Currently, hepatectomy remains the first-line therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, surgery for patients with huge (>10 cm) HCCs is controversial. This retrospective study aimed to explore long-term survival after hepatectomy for patients with huge HCC. The records of 188 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC who underwent curative hepatectomy between 2007 and 2017 were reviewed; patients were divided into three groups according to tumor size: huge (>10 cm; n = 84), large (5–10 cm; n = 51) and small (10 cm) had significant effect on OS, and postoperative antiviral therapy and postoperative complications also had significant effects on DFS. Huge HCC is not a contraindication of hepatectomy. Although most of these patients experienced recurrence after surgery, OS and DFS were not significantly different from those of patients with large HCC after resection.