A systematic review: Treatment and prognosis of patients with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma

Michael N. Mavros, Skye C. Mayo, Omar Hyder, Timothy M. Pawlik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

78 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLC) is a rare primary liver tumor presenting earlier in life than nonfibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (NFL-HCC), with distinct epidemiologic and clinical characteristics. Although FLC is believed to have a better prognosis than NFL-HCC, data on treatment and prognosis are scarce. We performed a systematic review to investigate treatment options and clinical outcomes of patients with FLC. Study Design: The study is a systematic review of the literature and pooled analysis of individual patient data. Results: A total of 35 series were analyzed, reporting on 575 patients (52% female, elevated alpha-fetoprotein in 10%, cirrhosis in 3%, hepatitis B in 2%), most of whom were treated with partial hepatectomy (55%) or orthotopic liver transplantation (23%). Nineteen studies provided data on 206 individual patients with a median age of 21 years and tumor size of 12 cm. Median overall survival (OS) was 39 months; 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year OS rates were 85%, 53%, and 44%, respectively. For patients treated with liver resection, median OS was 18.5 years and 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year OS were 93%, 80%, and 70%, respectively. Based on data from 15 studies, FLC appeared to follow a relatively indolent course compared with NFL-HCC. Conclusions: Patients with FLC treated with partial hepatectomy have excellent long-term survival, with 5-year overall survival reaching 70%. Patients fared worse with the use of other therapeutic options including chemotherapy, intra-arterial therapy, and transplantation, although data directly comparing resection vs transplantation were limited.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)820-830
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of the American College of Surgeons
Volume215
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surgery

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