Clinicopathological characteristics and surgical outcomes of sarcomatoid hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 2 Tumor-specific characteristics of the studied patients, n (%)

Variables	Sarcomatoid HCC, n = 41	High-grade HCC, n = 155	P value
Tumor size, median (range), cm	8.6 (1.5-24.0)	5.5 (1.3-19.0)	0.007
Tumor number, single/multiple	25/16	108/47	0.443
Tumor location			0.549
Left lobe	11 (26.8)	34 (21.9)
Right lobe	28 (68.3)	106 (68.4)
Both lobes	2 (4.9)	15 (9.7)
Tumor encapsulation	11 (26.8)	77 (49.7)	0.009
Tumor necrosis	35 (85.4)	53 (34.2)	< 0.001
Spontaneous rupture	4 (9.8)	9 (5.8)	0.477
Adjacent organ invasion	9 (22.0)	13 (8.4)	0.024
Satellite nodules	6 (14.6)	25 (16.1)	0.816
Macrovascular invasion	7 (17.1)	34 (21.9)	0.496
Microvascular invasion	16 (39.0)	63 (40.6)	0.851
Lymph node metastasis	9 (22.0)	9 (5.8)	0.004
Differentiation grade of the carcinomatous component			< 0.001
II	3 (7.3)	0 (0)
III	19 (46.4)	116 (74.8)
IV	8 (19.5)	39 (25.2)
NA1	11 (26.8)	0 (0)
AJCC stage			0.006
Stage I	10 (24.4)	68 (43.9)
Stage II	7 (17.0)	25 (16.1)
Stage III	15 (36.6)	53 (34.2)
Stage IV	9 (22.0)	9 (5.8)
BCLC stage			0.543
0	0 (0)	2 (1.3)
A	19 (46.4)	95 (61.3)
B	6 (14.6)	15 (9.7)
C	16 (39.0)	43 (27.7)
Recurrence	34 (82.9)	108 (69.7)	0.091
Recurrence pattern	34	108	0.246
Intrahepatic	14 (41.2)	62 (57.4)
Extrahepatic	8 (23.5)	17 (15.7)
Both	12 (35.3)	29 (26.9)
Imaging data at diagnosis	36	139
Typical dynamic image patterns2	16 (44.4)	101 (72.7)	0.001

¹The tumor consists purely of sarcomatous components.

²Arterial phase enhancement, portal and delayed phase washout. AJCC: American Joint Committee on Cancer; BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; NA: Not available.