Prognosis of patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinomas based on the Child-Pugh score: subclassifying the intermediate stage (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B)

Purpose Retrospective evaluation of intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patient survival after undergoing chemoembolization based on the Child-Pugh score. Materials and methods Data of intermediate-stage HCC patients undergoing chemoembolization were gathered from 43 centers in Japan. Overall survival rates were compared with Child-Pugh scores. Results Of the 329 patients examined in this study, Child-Pugh scores were 5 (CP-5) in 136 patients (41.3 %), 6 (CP-6) in 101 patients (30.7 %), 7 (CP-7) in 58 (17.7 %), 8 (CP-8) in 22 (6.7 %), and 9 (CP-9) in 12 (3.6 %). Two-year survival rates were 77.5 % in CP-5 patients ( p = 0.047 vs. CP-6), 65.1 % in CP-6 patients ( p = 0.038 vs. CP-7), 51.3 % in CP-7 patients ( p = 0.30 vs. CP-8, p = 0.034 vs. CP-9), 50.3 % in CP-8 patients ( p = 0.0065 vs. CP-9), and 16.7 % in CP-9 patients. Two-year survival rates were 77.2 % in 139 patients meeting the 4 tumors of 7 cm criterion with Child-Pugh class A (B1) ( p < 0.0001 vs. B2), 59.5 % in 178 patients other than B1 and B3 (B2) ( p = 0.0014 vs. B3), and 16.7 % in 12 patients with Child-Pugh score 9 (B3). Conclusion The Child-Pugh score is a useful prognostic factor to stratify intermediate-stage HCC patients.