Prognostic factors, treatment methods and survival time in hepatocellular carcinoma: A decade of experience at a single center

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The objective of this study was to investigate the etiology, prognostic factors, treatment methods, and effects of treatment on survival in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 158 patients diagnosed with HCC at a single hospital between the years 2000 and 2010. RESULTS: The etiological factor of HCC was the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 53.2% of the cases, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 21.5%, alcohol use in 6.3%, HBV+alcohol in 5.7%, HCV+alcohol in 1.9%, HBV+HCV in 1.9%, and the cause was unknown in 9.5%. Of the 158 patients, 120 were treated at the study hospital, and complete follow-up data were available for 81. The mean length of follow-up was 17.9 months (range: 0.6–124 months). Multivariate analysis indicated that a lesion size >5 cm, Child-Pugh class C, a high creatinine level, and a distant metastasis were prognostic factors of reduced survival. CONCLUSION: HBV was the most frequent cause of HCC in this study group, followed by HCV. The most effective treatment methods for survival were liver transplantation and hepatic resection. A lesion size >5 cm, Child-Pugh class C, a high creatinine level, and distant metastasis were independent poor prognostic factors for survival.