Pattern of the First Recurrence Has No Impact on Long-Term Survival after Curative Intent Surgery for Perihilar Cholangiocarcinomas

AIM: To explore the pattern of the first recurrence and impact on long-term survival after curative intent surgery for perihilar cholangiocarcinomas (PHC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with curative intent surgery for PHC between 1996 and 2017 were analyzed. Survival times were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Comparisons were made with the log-rank test. RESULTS: A number of 139 patients were included. The median overall survival was 26 months. A recurrence was observed in 86 patients (61.9%), during a median follow-up time of 89 months. The median disease-free survival was 21 months with 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year estimated recurrence rates of 38%, 60%, 69%, and 77%, respectively. A number of 57 patients (41%) developed distant only recurrence, while 26 patients (18.7%) presented local and distant recurrences. An isolated local recurrence was observed in 3 patients (2.2%). The median overall survival was 15 months for patients with local recurrence, 15 months for patients with liver metastases, and 17 months for patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (p = 0.903) as the first recurrence. CONCLUSION: Curative intent surgery for PHC is associated with high recurrence rates. Most patients will develop distant metastases, while an isolated local recurrence is uncommon. The pattern of recurrence does not appear to have a significant impact on survivals.