%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of Staging Systems of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
%A Yongyut Sirivatanauksorn
%A Chutwichai Tovikkai
%J HPB Surgery
%D 2011
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2011/818217
%X Many staging systems of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were established; however, there is no consensus on which is proper in predicting prognosis. This study aims to evaluate various commonly used staging systems of HCC. Patients who underwent surgery during 2001¨C2007 were included. All patient data were retrospectively staged using six staging systems, that are American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Tumour-Node-Metastasis (TNM), Okuda staging, Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC), Chinese University Prognostic Index (CUPI), and Japan Integrated Staging (JIS). Child-Pugh classification was also evaluated. The staging systems were compared by mean of overall and disease-free survival. Total of 99 patient data were enrolled in the analyses. All staging systems except Okuda were significant in determining overall survival in univariate analyses. In multivariate analyses, TNM and Child-Pugh demonstrated better predictive power for overall survival. In terms of disease-free survival, univariate analyses revealed that TNM, CLIP, BCLC, CUPI, and JIS were significant, and TNM was the best predictive staging system in multivariate analyses. In our study, TNM and Child-Pugh are the representative systems in predicting survival of HCC patients who undergo surgical resection. Moreover, they are practical and easily assessable in clinical practice. 1. Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of liver and one of the most common malignancies especially in Eastern and Southeastern Asia. The most important risk factors of HCC are chronic hepatitis B, C and cirrhosis. In malignancy diseases, staging system is important because it defines prognosis and is a guiding tool for treatment options and also a research tool for comparison between different groups and trials [1]. American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) uses tumour-node-metastasis (TNM) system as staging system for many malignancy diseases to predict prognosis [2]. Nevertheless, in HCC, AJCC/TNM system fails to stratify patients adequately with respect to prognosis because TNM system evaluates only tumour extension. Since the remnant liver function is another important factor to prognosis of patients with HCC beside tumour burden; therefore, the staging system for HCC should include these both factors [3]. Staging systems that include liver function status were first proposed by Okuda et al. in 1985 based on study of 850 HCC patients [4]. This Okuda staging system was consisted of tumour load, ascites, albumin, and bilirubin.
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/hpb/2011/818217/