©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2023; 29(47): 6122-6137
Published online Dec 21, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i47.6122
Published online Dec 21, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i47.6122
Impact of guideline adherence on the prognosis of Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage B hepatocellular carcinoma
Ji Eun Han, Hyo Jung Cho, Jae Youn Cheong, Sun Gyo Lim, Min Jae Yang, Choong-Kyun Noh, Gil Ho Lee, Soon Sun Kim, Department of Gastroenterology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16499, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Author contributions: SS Kim conceived the study and planned the statistical analysis; JE Han and SS Kim conducted statistical analysis; JE Han, SS Kim, HJ Cho, and JY Cheong contributed to the interpretation of the results; JE Han and SS Kim drafted the original manuscript; SS Kim supervised the conduct of the study; All authors reviewed the draft manuscript and revised it critically on intellectual content; All authors approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Supported by the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute , No. HR21C003000021 .
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Ajou University Hospital, Suwon, South Korea (Approval No. AJOUIRB-EX-2023-085).
Informed consent statement: The requirement for informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board of Ajou University Hospital, Suwon, South Korea.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE checklist.
Corresponding author: Soon Sun Kim, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Ajou University School of Medicine, 164 Worldcup-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 16499, South Korea. cocorico99@gmail.com
Received: August 28, 2023
Peer-review started: August 28, 2023
First decision: September 23, 2023
Revised: October 23, 2023
Accepted: December 1, 2023
Article in press: December 1, 2023
Published online: December 21, 2023
Processing time: 112 Days and 17.9 Hours
Peer-review started: August 28, 2023
First decision: September 23, 2023
Revised: October 23, 2023
Accepted: December 1, 2023
Article in press: December 1, 2023
Published online: December 21, 2023
Processing time: 112 Days and 17.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: The current hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) guidelines do not recommend curative treatments, except liver transplantation, for patients with Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage B HCC. Our study suggests survival benefits for selected patients aged < 70 years, with platelet counts > 105/μL and albumin levels ≥ 3.5 g/dL, even if the liver function corresponds to Child-Pugh score B7, beyond the Milan criteria and outside the up-to-7 criteria. As for the B2 group of the Kinki criteria, which presents a highly diverse population of patients with stage B HCC, curative strategies should be considered with caution through a multidisciplinary approach.