Aggressive Surgical Treatment for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma and Prognostic factors

Kim, Hong Jin; Yun, Sung Su; Ko, Juong Uuk; Choi, Joon Hyuk; Chang, Jay Chun; Kwun, Koing Bo

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To review the cases of surgically-treated intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and to evaluate the clinical and pathologic features of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma that may affect longterm survival among Korean patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
From 1990 to 1997, 28 patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma underwent laparotomy. Among them, resection was performed in 25 patients and wedge resection in only 3 patients. The liver resections included: 5 right lobectomies, 1 right trisegmentectomy, 7 left lobectomies, 3 extended left lobectomies, 2 hepatopancreatoduodenectomies and 7 segmentectomies. Curative resection was performed on 15 patients. The histological sections of all resected specimens were immunohistochemically stained with p53 and Ki-67 monoclonal antibodies to assess biological behavior of the tumor cells. The cumulative survival rate and clinicopathological factors, including biological markers (p53, Ki-67), that may influence prognosis were analyzed stastistically.
RESULTS
The patients undergoing curative resection survived significantly longer than the patients undergoing noncurative resection. The median survival time for patients with curative resection was 24 months (mean, 34+/-8 months) with 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates of 66.6%, 44.4%, and 35.6%, respectively. The median survival time for patients with noncurative resection was 3 months (mean, 8+/-3 months) with 1- and 2-year survival rates of 26.7% and 13.4%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that positive regional lymph node significantly correlated with poor prognosis (p=0.004); and that curative resection significantly correlated with better prognosis (p=0.001). Age, sex, tumor size, the degree of cell differentiation, gross type of tumor, and p53 and Ki-67 labeling index had no significant correlation with prognosis.
CONCLUSION
Our results support the idea that an aggressive liver resection along with regional lymph node dissection is recommended for long-term survival. The validity of the molecular biologic tumor markers (p53, Ki -67) as a prognostic factor is not yet clearly defined.