• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4759-4763
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• 2013

Background: Prognostic factors of postoperative early and late recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing curative resection remain to be clarified. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for postoperative early (${\leq}$ 2 year) and late (> 2 year) intrahepatic recurrences in patients with single HCCs without macrovascular invasion. Methods: A total of 280 patients from December 2004 to December 2007 were retrospectively included in this study. Intrahepatic recurrence was classified into early (${\leq}$ 2 year) and late (> 2 year) and the Chi-Square test or Fisher's exact test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to determine significant risk factors. Results: During the follow-up, 124 patients had intrahepatic recurrence, early and late in 82 and 42 patients, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that microvascular invasion (p=0.006, HR: 2.397, 95% CI: 1.290-4.451) was the only independent risk factor for early recurrence, while being female (p = 0.031, HR: 0.326, 95% CI: 0.118-0.901), and having a high degree of cirrhosis (P=0.001, HR: 2.483, 95% CI: 1.417-4.349) were independent risk factors for late recurrence. Conclusions: Early and late recurrence of HCC is linked to different risk factors in patients with single HCC without macrovascular invasion. This results suggested different emphases of strategies for prevent of recurrence after curative resection, more active intervention including adjuvant therapy, anti-cirrhosis drugs and careful follow-up being necessary for patients with relevant risk factors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4735-4739
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• 2016

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCCA) is an aggressive tumor for which surgical resection is a mainstay of treatment. However, recurrence after resection is common associated with a poor prognosis. Studies regarding recurrence of mass-forming IHCCA are rare; therefore, we investigated the pattern with our dataset. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical and pathological records of 50 mass-forming IHCCA patients who underwent hepatic resection between January 2004 and December 2009 in order to determine the patterns of recurrence and prognosis. All demographic and operative parameters were analyzed for their effects on recurrence-free survival. Results: The median recurrence-free survival time was 188 days (95%CI: 149-299). The respective 1-, 2-, and 3-year recurrence-free survival rates were 16.2% (95%CI: 6.6-29.4), 5.4% (95%CI: 1.0-15.8) and 2.7% (95%CI: 0.2-12.0). There was an equal distribution of recurrence at solitary and multiple sites. Univariate analysis revealed no factors related to recurrence-free survival.Conclusion: The overall survival and recurrence-free survival after surgery for mass-forming IHCCA were found to be very poor. Almost all recurrences were detected within 2 years after surgery. Adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery may add benefit in the affected patients.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.158-165
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• 2023

Backgrounds/Aims: Within two years of surgery, 70% of resected intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) recur. Better biomarkers are needed to identify those at risk of "early recurrence" (ER). In this study, we defined ER and investigated whether preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and systemic-inflammatory index were prognostic of both overall relapse and ER after curative hepatectomy for iCCA. Methods: A retrospective cohort of patients who underwent curative-intent hepatectomy for iCCA between 2005 and 2017 were created. The cut-off timepoint for the ER of iCCA was estimated using a piecewise linear regression model. Univariable analyses of recurrence were conducted for the overall, early, and late recurrence periods. For the early and late recurrence periods, multivariable Cox regression with time-varying regression coefficient analysis was used. Results: A total of 113 patients were included in this study. ER was defined as recurrence within 12 months of a curative resection. Among the included patients, 38.1% experienced ER. In the univariable model, a higher preoperative NLR (> 4.3) was significantly associated with an increased risk of recurrence overall and in the first 12 months after curative surgery. In the multivariable model, a higher NLR was associated with a higher recurrence rate overall and in the ER period (≤ 12 months), but not in the late recurrence period. Conclusions: Preoperative NLR was prognostic of both overall recurrence and ER after curative iCCA resection. NLR is easily obtained before and after surgery and should be integrated into ER prediction tools to guide preoperative treatments and intensify postoperative follow-up.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 2024

Recurrence of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) type II poses challenges during postoperative liver transplant care. Posttransplant patients with PFIC type II risk developing recurrent cholestasis with normal gamma-glutamyl transferase activity, which mimics the original bile salt export pump (BSEP) protein deficiency and is related to a form of immunoglobulin G antibody (anti-BSEP)-mediated rejection. Bortezomib effectively induces apoptosis of actively antibody-producing plasma cells that may have a role in antibodymediated rejection. In this case, we used bortezomib to treat PFIC type II recurrence after liver transplantation in a child.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.79 no.5
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• pp.264-270
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• 2018

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of portal hypertension on the tumor recurrence in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and without hepatic decompression following radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Materials and Methods: Treatment-naïve HCC patients within the Milan criteria and with Child-Pugh class A were included in this study, who had performed RFA in our hospital between January 2010 and March 2017. Univariate and multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazard model were performed to find the predictors of local or distant tumor recurrence. Results: Overall, 178 patients were included in this study. Median follow-up period was 40.2 months. The difference in the local tumor progression rates depending on the absence or presence of portal hypertension was not statistically significant (p = 0.195). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year distant intrahepatic tumor spread rates were 6.6%, 29.5%, and 537% in patients without portal hypertension, and 23.4%, 51.9%, and 63.6% in patients with portal hypertension, respectively. The difference was statistically significant (p = 0.011). Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that portal hypertension was an independent predictor for distant intrahepatic tumor spread (p = 0.008). Conclusion: For HCC patients with Child-Pugh class A, portal hypertension adversely affected distant intrahepatic tumor progression.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.45
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• pp.283.1-283.10
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• 2018

Background: The role of sorafenib in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after liver transplantation (LT) has been rarely studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of sorafenib in post-LT era. Methods: Consecutive patients with post-transplant HCC recurrence not eligible to resection or locoregional therapy were included. Patients receiving best supportive care (BSC) until 2007 were compared with those treated by sorafenib thereafter. Results: Of a total of 65 patients, 20 patients received BSC and 45 received sorafenib. Clinical characteristics were similar between two groups except that sorafenib group received tacrolimus and mammalian target-of-rapamycin inhibitors more frequently than BSC group. Treatment with sorafenib conferred a survival advantage as compared with BSC for survival after recurrence (median, 14.2 vs. 6.8 months; P = 0.01). In multivariate analyses, high serum ${\alpha}$-fetoprotein level, synchronous intrahepatic recurrence and distant metastasis at the time of recurrence, and BSC were independently associated with poorer survival after recurrence. Sorafenib treatment was associated with better survival after recurrence as compared with BSC (hazard ratio, 0.25; 95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.62; P = 0.002). In addition, sorafenib group showed tolerable toxicity in the post-transplant setting. Conclusion: Sorafenib may be beneficial in patients with post-transplant HCC recurrence.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.174-179
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• 2020

We present an 8 years old girl who was diagnosed at 6 months of age of Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis type 2. Although liver transplantation (LT) was classically considered curative for these patients, cholestasis recurrence with normal gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), mediated by anti-bile salt export pump (BSEP) antibodies after LT (auto-antibody Induced BSEP Deficiency, AIBD) has been recently reported. Our patient underwent LT at 14 months. During her evolution, patient presented three episodes of acute rejection. Seven years after the LT, the patient presented pruritus with cholestasis and elevation of liver enzymes with persistent normal GGT. Liver biopsy showed intrahepatic cholestasis and giant-cell transformation with very low BSEP activity. Auto-antibodies against BSEP were detected therefore an AIBD was diagnosed. She was treated with Rituximab and immunoadsorption with resolution of the AIBD. As a complication of the treatment she developed a pneumocystis infection successfully treated with corticoids, cotrimoxazol and anidulafungin.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6455-6461
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• 2012

Objective: E-cadherin has been identified as a tumor suppressor in many types of carcinoma. However, some studies recently suggested that the role and expression of E-cadherin might be more complex and diverse. In the present study, we evaluated the prognostic value of E-cadherin expression with reference to levels in membranes and cytoplasm, and the membrane/cytoplasm ratio, in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) after curative hepatectomy. Methods: The expression of E-cadherin was assessed by immunohistochemistry in HCC tissue microarrays from 125 patients, and its prognostic values and other clinicopathlogical data were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were followed for a median period of 43.7 months (range 1 to 126 months). Results: Univariate analysis demonstrated that a high membrane/cytoplasm (M/C) ratio of E-cadherin expression was associated with poor overall survival (OS) (P =0.001) and shorter time to recurrence (TTR) (P=0.038), as well as tumor size, intrahepatic metastasis, and TNM stage. In contrast, neither membrane nor cytoplasmic expression of E-cadherin was related with OS and TTR. Furthermore, multivariate analysis confirmed the M/C ratio to be an independent predictor of OS (P=0.031). ${\chi}^2$ tests additionally showed that the M/C ratio of E-cadherin expression was related with early stage recurrence (P=0.012), rather than later stage recurrence. Conclusion: The M/C ratio of E-cadherin expression is a strong predictor of postoperative survival and is associated with early stage recurrence in patients with HCC.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.55-57
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• 2017

A 64-year-old man was admitted due to jaundice for 2 weeks. Radiologic findings revealed biliary stricture at the hepatic hilum with intrahepatic duct dilation suggesting Bismuth type IV Klatskin tumor. Jaundice improved spontaneously several days after hospitalization. Surgical treatment was considered but he only wanted to observe without specific treatment. Ten months later, he was re-admitted due to the recurrence of jaundice. Computed tomography (CT) showed no significant difference compared to previous results. Serum cancer antigen 19-9 and Immunoglobulin G4 were normal. Endoscopic forcep biopsy during endoscopic retrograde cholagiopancreatography (ERCP) revealed chronic inflammation. After steroid use under possible diagnosis of IgG4 related cholangiopathy, biliary stricture improved slightly. Four years later, he was hospitalized with the occurrence of acute cholangitis. Endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage was performed following endobiliary forcep biopsy. Pathology revealed well-differentiated adenocarcinoma at this time. Combined chemotherapy based on gemcitabine and cisplatin was performed. Six months later, CT revealed partial response.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.231-240
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• 2016

Purpose: To determine whether liver stiffness (LS) measured by magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) can predict the outcome of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 107 patients with Child-Pugh class A liver function who were treated with RFA for single HCC and who had undergone a gradient-echo MRE within 6 months before RFA were included. We evaluated the relationship between the LS values and the ablation volume, local tumor progression (LTP), and intrahepatic distant recurrence (IDR). We also constructed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to examine the role of LS in predicting liver function deterioration, which was defined as an increase of Child-Pugh score by one point or more at 1 year after RFA. Results: There was no significant correlation between LS and ablation volume, and neither time to LTP nor IDR was associated with LS. Among the 66 patients who did not have recurrence 1 year after RFA, 5 patients (7.6%) developed liver function deterioration. A high LS value was significantly associated with development of liver function deterioration after RFA and the area under the ROC curve was 0.764 (95% CI 0.598-0.929, P = 0.003). Conclusion: LS measured by MRE could not predict ablation volume and tumor recurrence. However, high LS values were significantly associated with development of liver function deterioration.