A prognosis model for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and portal vein tumor thrombus following hepatic resection

The present study aimed to identify the risk factors influencing the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) affected by portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), following hepatic resection, and to establish a prognostic model. Between March 2001 and May 2008, 234 cases of HCC with PVTT that underwent hepatic resection were randomly divided into experimental or validation groups. The association between the clinicopathological factors and disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was analyzed, and the significant factors involved were used to establish a prognostic model, which was then validated. Tumor rupture, number of tumors and macroscopic vascular invasion were observed to be independent risk factors of DFS and OS. In the prognostic model, the DFS and OS of low-, medium- and high-risk patients in the experimental group were observed to be significantly different, compared to those in the validation group. In conclusion, the present study established a prognostic model for patients with HCC affected by PVTT following hepatectomy, and demonstrated that the model may be used to guide the treatment of these patients and predict their prognosis.