OBJECTIVE. To evaluate survival and prognostic factors in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated by transarterial chemoembolisation in a real-life clinical practice setting.

DESIGN. Retrospective study.

SETTING. Regional hospital, Hong Kong.

PATIENTS. Patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed from January 1998 to December 2003 who received transarterial chemoembolisation.

RESULTS. A total of 74 patients were identified, and had a median survival of 214 days. The cumulative survival rates at 1, 2, and 3 years were 28%, 12%, and 7%, respectively. By multivariate analysis, superselective cannulation performed in transarterial chemoembolisation (hazard ratio=0.47; 95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.95; P=0.034), embolisation with gelfoam (0.30; 0.11-0.80; P=0.017), and treatment intervals of more than 45 days (0.33; 0.15-0.72; P=0.006) were independent predictors of good survival. Child-Pugh grade B cirrhosis (hazard ratio=5.62; 95% confidence interval, 2.11-14.97; P=0.001), and high pre-treatment serum alpha-fetoprotein level (2.93; 1.50-5.73; P=0.002) were independent predictors of poor survival.

CONCLUSIONS. In real-life clinical practice, survival of patients with inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma remains grave despite treatment. Patients with Child-Pugh grade A cirrhosis or with low pretreatment alpha-fetoprotein level are more suitable for this form of treatment. The procedure should be performed with superselective cannulation and embolisation with gelfoam.

Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Chemoembolization, therapeutic; Liver neoplasms; Prognosis; Survival rate

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