Published online Sep 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i27.8020
Peer-review started: May 16, 2021
First decision: June 15, 2021
Revised: June 28, 2021
Accepted: August 3, 2021
Article in press: August 3, 2021
Published online: September 26, 2021
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and has relatively high recurrence rates. Few studies have been published on the clinical stages of recurrent HCC.
To assess the applicability of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging for recurrent HCC and the need to establish clinical stage criteria for recurrent HCC.
The clinicopathological data of 81 patients with recurrent HCC who were ad
The median time to tumor recurrence in groups A, B, and C was 16 ± 1.5 mo, 10 ± 2.8 mo, and 6 ± 0.5 mo, respectively, with a statistically significant difference among them (χ2 = 70.144, P < 0.05); no statistically significant difference was noted between group A and group B (χ2 = 2.659, P > 0.05), although there were statistically significant differences between group A and group C and between group B and group C (χ2 = 62.110, and 19.972, P < 0.05). The median overall survival in groups A, B, and C were 42 ± 5.1 mo, 22 ± 3.1 mo, and 13 ± 1.8 mo, respectively, with a statistically significant difference among them (χ2 = 38.949, P < 0.05); there were statistically significant differences between group A and group B, group A and group C, and group B and group C (χ2 = 9.577, 37.172, and 7.183, respectively; P < 0.05).
There are different prognoses in recurrent HCC patients according to the BCLC staging. Therefore, BCLC staging is applicable to recurrent HCC and it is essential to formulate clinical stage criteria for recurrent HCC.
Core Tip: We analyzed the clinical and pathological data of 81 patients who developed recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with an aim to evaluate the applicability of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system for recurrent HCC. Our results indicate that BCLC staging is applicable to recurrent HCC and it is essential to formulate clinical stage criteria for recurrent HCC.