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Improved survival trend of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at an A ustralian tertiary hospital between 1995–2009
Author(s) -
Wong N.,
Haydon A.,
Kemp W.,
Wijeratne P.,
Roberts S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
internal medicine journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 1444-0903
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2012.02755.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatocellular carcinoma , asymptomatic , cohort , retrospective cohort study , epidemiology , population , cohort study , gastroenterology , surgery , environmental health
Aim To evaluate trends in survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ) at The Alfred over a 15‐year period from 1995–2009 Methods A retrospective cohort study of patients with HCC comparing epidemiology, clinical presentation, treatment parameters and overall survival of those diagnosed between 1995–2001 and 2002–2009. Overall survival of patients with primary liver cancer. Results The study population consisted of 215 patients; 110 diagnosed between 1995–2001 (Cohort A) and 105 between 2002–2009 (Cohort B ). Overall survival increased significantly between 1995–2010 ( P = 0.016); median survival was 365 days in Cohort A compared with 665 in Cohort B . The improvement in survival was associated with an increase in the proportion of cases detected at an asymptomatic stage ( P = 0.012), a decline in the severity of liver disease at diagnosis ( P = 0.002) and increased utilisation of loco‐regional therapy ( P = 0.001) over the same period. Survival of patients detected through screening was significantly higher than those detected through non‐screening methods (1309 vs 233 days, P < 0.001). Conclusions The survival of patients with HCC managed at a tertiary referral centre has improved over the period 1995–2009. This improvement may relate to the increased detection of the disease at an asymptomatic stage (e.g. through screening) as well as increased utilisation of effective loco‐regional therapies for HCC .