Yonsei Med J.  2011 Sep;52(5):753-760. 10.3349/ymj.2011.52.5.753.

Clinicopathological Characteristics in Combined Hepatocellular-Cholangiocarcinoma: A Single Center Study in Korea

• Park H
• Choi KH
• Choi SB
• Choi JW
• Kim DY
• Ahn SH
• Kim KS
• Choi JS
• Han KH
• Chon CY
• Park JY

• KMID: 1108067
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2011.52.5.753

Abstract

PURPOSE
Combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (CHCC) is an uncommon form of cancer, and its clinicopathological features have rarely been reported in detail. This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of CHCC.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The clinicopathological features of patients diagnosed with CHCC at Severance Hospital between January 1996 and December 2007 were retrospectively studied by comparing them with the features of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or cholangiocarcinoma (CC) who had undergone a hepatic resection during the same period.
RESULTS
Forty-three patients diagnosed with CHCC were included in this study (M : F=35 : 8, median age, 55 years). According to the parameters of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging, there were 6 (14.0%), 9 (20.9%), 25 (58.1%), and 3 (7.0%) patients with stages I, II, III, and IV cancer, respectively. Thirty-two of the 43 patients underwent resection with curative intent. After resection, 27 patients (84.4%) had tumor recurrence during the follow-up period of 18 months (range: 6-106 months), and the median time to recurrence was 13 months. Overall median survival periods after hepatic resection of CHCC, HCC and CC were 34, 103 and 38.9 months, respectively (p<0.001). The median overall survival for all patients with CHCC was 21 months, and the 5-year survival rate was 18.1%. The presence of portal vein thrombosis and distant metastasis were independent prognostic factors of poor survival.
CONCLUSION
Even after curative hepatic resection, the presence of a cholangiocellular component appeared to be a poor prognostic indicator in patients with primary liver cancer.

Keyword

Combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma; hepatocellular carcinoma; cholangiocarcinoma

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/mortality/*pathology
Cholangiocarcinoma/mortality/*pathology
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
Humans
Kaplan-Meier Estimate
Liver Neoplasms/mortality/*pathology
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/pathology
Prognosis
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Retrospective Studies

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Kaplan-Meier overall survival rate of combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (CHCC) (n=43).

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  Fig. 2 Kaplan-Meier overall survival rate of combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (CHCC) (n=32), HCC (n=368) and CC (n=128). HCC, hepatocellular-carcinoma; CC, cholangiocarcinoma.

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