Bacterial infection in compensated viral cirrhosis impairs 5-year survival (ANRS CO12 CirVir prospective cohort).

OBJECTIVE: To assess incidence and prognostic significance of bacterial infections (BIs) occurring in compensated viral cirrhosis. DESIGN: This prospective study involved 35 French centres. Inclusion criteria were biopsy-proven HCV or HBV cirrhosis, Child-Pugh A and no previous hepatic complications. Cumulative incidence (CumI) of events was estimated in a competing risks framework. RESULTS: 1672 patients were enrolled (HCV 1323, HBV 318, HCV-HBV 31). During a median follow-up of 43 months, 234 BIs occurred in 171 patients (5 year CumI: 12.9%), among whom 14.6% had septic shock. Main localisations included the urinary tract (27.4%), lung (25.2%) and peritoneum (10.7%) (other, 86 (36.7%)). Most BIs occurred as a first event prior to liver decompensation (n=140, 81.8%) and were community-acquired (CA, 84.2%). The risk of BI was higher in patients with HCV than in patients with HBV (5 year CumI: 15.2% vs 5.5%, p=0.0008). Digestive localisation, concomitant interferon-based treatment, isolation of resistant bacteria and non-CA BIs were associated with lowest probability of resolution. The occurrence of a first BI impaired survival in patients infected with HCV (5 year survival: 60.2% vs 90.4%, p<0.001) and patients infected with HBV (5 year survival: 69.2% vs 97.6%, p<0.001). BIs represented the third cause of death (14.1%) after liver failure and liver cancer. BI risk factors comprised older age, lower albumin, proton pump inhibitor intake and absence of virological eradication/control. CONCLUSION: BI mostly occurs as a first complication and represents a turning point in the course of compensated viral cirrhosis. Its occurrence impacts long-term prognosis and may define a subgroup of patients in whom adaptation of management is warranted.

Nomogram for individualized prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence in hepatitis C virus cirrhosis (ANRS CO12 CirVir).

UNLABELLED: The aim of this work was to develop an individualized score for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with hepatitis C (HCV)-compensated cirrhosis. Among 1,323 patients with HCV cirrhosis enrolled in the French prospective ANRS CO12 CirVir cohort, 720 and 360 were randomly assigned to training and validation sets, respectively. Cox's multivariate model was used to predict HCC, after which a nomogram was computed to assess individualized risk. During follow-up (median, 51.0 months), 103 and 39 patients developed HCC in the training and validation sets, respectively. Five variables were independently associated with occurrence of HCC: age > 50 years (hazard ratio [HR], 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16; 3.25; P = 0.012); past excessive alcohol intake (HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.02; 2.36; P = 0.041); low platelet count (<100 Giga/mm(3) : HR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.62; 4.51; P < 0.001; [100; 150] Giga/mm(3) : HR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.10; 3.18; P = 0.021); gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase above the upper limit of normal (HR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.11; 3.47; P = 0.021); and absence of a sustained virological response during follow-up (HR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.67; 5.48; P < 0.001). An 11-point risk score was derived from the training cohort and validated in the validation set. Based on this score, the population was stratified into three groups, in which HCC development gradually increased, from 0% to 30.1% at 5 years for patients with the lowest (≤3) and highest (≥8) scores (P < 0.001). Using this score, a nomogram was built enabling individualized prediction of HCC occurrence at 1, 3, and 5 years. CONCLUSION: This HCC score can accurately predict HCC at an individual level in French patients with HCV cirrhosis. (Hepatology 2016;64:1136-1147).

Hepatocellular Carcinoma within Milan Criteria: No-Touch Multibipolar Radiofrequency Ablation for Treatment-Long-term Results.

Purpose To assess the long-term outcome in 108 consecutive patients treated with no-touch multibipolar radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that met the Milan criteria. Materials and Methods This retrospective study was approved by the ethical review board, and the need to obtain informed consent was waived. Between November 1, 2006, and December 31, 2011, 132 HCC tumors (diameter, 10-45 mm; 39 tumors ≥ 30 mm) in 108 consecutive patients (106 with cirrhosis) that met Milan criteria were treated with no-touch multibipolar RFA, which consisted of activating, in bipolar mode, three or four electrodes inserted just beyond the tumor margins. Follow-up was performed every 3 months for 2 years and every 6 months thereafter with computed tomographic or magnetic resonance imaging. Survival probabilities were computed by using the Kaplan-Meier method. Predictive factors of tumor progression and overall survival were assessed by using the Cox proportional hazard model. Results No technical failure occurred, and complete ablation was achieved for all the nodules. After a median of 40.5 months (range, 2-84 months) of follow-up, 3- and 5-year local and overall tumor progression-free survival were 96%, 94%, 52%, and 32%, respectively. Neither tumor diameter greater than 30 mm nor location abutting a large vessel were associated with local tumor progression. Tumor diameter greater than 30 mm was the only parameter predictive of overall tumor progression (P = .0036). Independent factors associated with shorter overall survival were Child-Pugh class B disease, age greater than 65 years, and platelet count of less than 150 g/L (P < .003). Three major complications occurred (2.7%): hemothorax in one patient and liver failure in two, with major portal-systemic shunts. One patient (0.9%) died, and one underwent transplantation. Conclusion No-touch multibipolar RFA for HCC tumors that meet Milan criteria provides a high local tumor progression-free survival rate. An ongoing randomized trial might help to clarify the role of this new approach for the treatment of early HCC. (©) RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article. An earlier incorrect version of this article appeared online. This article was corrected on March 30, 2016.

Sequential Serum Metabolomic Profiling after Radiofrequency Ablation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Reveals Different Response Patterns According to Etiology.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is commonly performed as a curative approach in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the risk of tumor recurrence is difficult to predict due to a lack of reliable clinical and biological markers, and identification of new biomarkers poses a major challenge for improving prognoses. Metabolomics is a promising technique that may lead to the identification and characterization of new disease fingerprints. The objective of the present study was to explore, preoperatively and at various time points post-RFA, the metabolic profile of serum samples from HCC patients to identify factors associated with treatment response and recurrence. Sequential sera obtained before and after RFA procedures for 120 patients with HCC due to cirrhosis were investigated using nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics. A multilevel orthogonal projection to latent structure analysis was used to discriminate intraindividual metabolic changes in response to RFA treatment. Recurrence-free survival differed depending on the underlying cause of cirrhosis. The statistical model showed significant differences depending on whether the liver disease had a viral or nonviral etiology before RFA intervention (explained variance of R(2)Y = 0.89 and predictability of Q(2)Y = 0.34). These profiles were also associated with specific and distinct metabolic responses after RFA.

Duplication of the V3 domain in hepatitis C virus (1b) NS5A protein: Clonal analysis and physicochemical properties related to hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus non-structural protein 5A is known to play a role in development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via interactions with host cell pathways. OBJECTIVES: Hepatitis C virus genotype 1b strains presenting a wide insertion of 31 amino acids in the non-structural protein 5A V3 domain (V3 DI) were studied to determine whether this V3-like additional domain (V3 DII) was associated with HCC occurrence. STUDY DESIGN: Seventy-four patients' sera were screened for V3 DII presence regarding clinical status. RESULTS: Three strains with duplicated V3 were detected among patients with progression to HCC (n=28), two strains among patients with liver cirrhosis (Ci, n=27) and none among patients with chronic hepatitis (Chr, n=19). Phylogenetic trees built from V3 DI and V3 DII sequences indicated that the latter clustered separately. In between-group clonal analysis, V3 DII sequences from the HCC group were found to be more distant from HCV-J than V3 DI sequences (p<0.0001). Between-group comparisons showed significant differences in genetic distances from HCV-J, in HCC V3 DI and HCC V3 DII compared to Ci V3 DI and Ci V3 DII sequences (p<0.0001). HCC V3 DII domain and its junction with V3 DI exhibited higher Shannon entropy values and enrichment in disorder-promoting residues. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results suggest that V3 DII evolution may differ in strains associated with HCC occurrence. The presence of an intrinsically "disordered" V3 duplicate may alter the NS5A protein network. Further investigations are necessary to elucidate the potential impact of V3 duplication in the context of carcinogenesis.

Diagnostic performance of controlled attenuation parameter for predicting steatosis grade in chronic hepatitis B.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: A novel controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) using the signals acquired by the FibroScan® has been developed as a method for evaluating steatosis. The aim of this study is to assess the performance of the CAP for the detection and quantification of steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 136 subjects with CHB underwent liver biopsy and FibroScan® within 60 days. CAP was evaluated retrospectively using raw FibroScan® data. Steatosis was graded as follows: S0 (steatosis < 10% of hepatocytes), S1 (10 to < 30%), S2 (30 to < 60%) or S3 (≥ 60%). Performance was evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve. RESULTS: Proportions of each steatosis grade (S0-S3) were 78, 10, 9 and 3%, respectively. Using univariate analysis, liver stiffness measurement (LMS) significantly correlated with fibrosis (τ = 0.43; P < 10-10), sex, necro-inflammatory activity, steatosis, age, NASH, and perisinusoidal fibrosis, and with liver fibrosis (P < 10-8) and perisinusoidal fibrosis (P = 0.008) using multivariate analysis. CAP correlated with steatosis (τ = 0.38, P < 10-7), body mass index, NASH, fibrosis and perisinusoidal fibrosis using univariate analysis, but only steatosis (P < 10-10) and perisinusoidal fibrosis (P = 0.002) using multivariate analysis. AUROCs for LSM were: 0.77 (0.69-0.85), 0.87 (0.80-0.95), and 0.93 (0.83-1.00), respectively, for fibrosis stages F ≥ 2, F ≥ 3 and F = 4. AUROCs for CAP were: 0.82 (0.73-0.92), 0.82 (0.69-0.95), and 0.97 (0.84-1.00) for ≥ S1, ≥ S2 and S3 steatosis, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusión CAP is a novel, accurate non-invasive tool and may be suitable for detecting and quantifying steatosis in CHB patients.

[Diagnosis and initial assessment of cirrhosis]. / Diagnostic et bilan initial de la cirrhose.

When it is compensated, cirrhosis is usually asymptomatic meaning that many people with the disease are unaware they have it. It is however essential to establish with certainty the cirrhosis diagnosis as the condition is responsible for a number of complications such as liver cancer (most frequently hepatocellular carcinoma), gastrointestinal bleeding or severe liver failure. Knowledge of the diagnosis ensures the prevention, screening and early treatment of these complications.

Imaging Features and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Cirrhosis Who Are Coinfected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis C Virus.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients with cirrhosis in terms of HCC morphologic subtypes and survival prognosis at the time of radiologic diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was approved by the institutional review board and patients gave their written informed consent. Two databases, one for HIV-HCV patients and the other for HCV-infected patients without HIV infection, were obtained from prospective multicenter cohorts. Inclusion criteria were a confirmed diagnosis of cirrhosis and the discovery of HCC at imaging between January 2008 and December 2012. This study included 35 HIV-HCV patients with cirrhosis (32 men and three women; median age, 50 years [age range, 40-65 years]; Child-Pugh classification A, 21 patients; classification B, 10 patients; classification C, four patients) and 35 infected HCV patients with cirrhosis (29 men and six women; median age, 56 years [age range, 41-83 years]; Child-Pugh classification A, 26 patients; classification B, six patients; classification C, three patients) who were the control group. Computed tomographic or magnetic resonance images were analyzed for HCC subtypes, the number and size of nodules, and evidence of portal obstructing tumors. Fisher exact and Wilcoxon tests were used for comparisons and Kaplan-Meier plots were used for survival analysis. RESULTS: Infiltrative HCC was found in eight HIV-HCV patients with cirrhosis (23%) and in no HCV patients with cirrhosis (P = .002). All other HCCs were of a nodular type, with similar nodule sizes in the two groups. Portal-obstructing tumors were found in 10 HIV-HCV patients (eight of eight tumors were infiltrative and two of 27 tumors were nodular) but none were found in HCV patients (P = .001). Survival was dramatically shorter for HIV-HCV patients than for those with HCV, with a median of 17.2 months versus 54.7 months (P = .004). Survival time was dependent on the type of HCC, with probabilities of death at 12 months of 87% in infiltrative-type HCC, 32% in multiple-nodule type, and 5% in single-nodule type, which was found in both groups (log-rank test, P < .001). CONCLUSION: Unlike HCV-infected patients with cirrhosis, patients with cirrhosis coinfected with HIV and HCV frequently present at radiologic diagnosis with infiltrative-type HCC and portal-obstructing tumors, which results in dramatically shorter survival.

Biomarkers of apoptosis and necrosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Sorafenib is the medical reference for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Multiple forms of cytotoxicity are induced by sorafenib in HCC cells in vitro but it is unclear what extent of apoptosis and necrosis is induced in HCC patients receiving sorafenib. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The M30 and M65 biomarkers, which reflect the release of cytokeratin-18 and its apoptotic cleavage fragments, were measured in patients with HCC (n=36) and matched patients with cirrhosis (n=47). A serum sample was collected from 20 patients with HCC four weeks after the onset of treatment with sorafenib. RESULTS: Basal serum levels of M30 and M65 were increased in patients with HCC compared to those with uncomplicated cirrhosis. No statistically significant increase in the level of M30 or M65 was found in the sera of patients with HCC after sorafenib. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that sorafenib is not a potent inducer of HCC cell death in most patients.

Complications and competing risks of death in compensated viral cirrhosis (ANRS CO12 CirVir prospective cohort).

UNLABELLED: Various critical events, liver related or not, occur in patients with compensated cirrhosis, but their respective burden remains to be prospectively assessed. The aim of this prospective cohort study involving 35 French centers was to capture the whole spectrum of complications occurring in compensated viral cirrhosis (VC) using competing risks analyses. Inclusion criteria were: histologically proven cirrhosis resulting from hepatitis C virus (HCV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV); Child-Pugh A; and no previous hepatic complications. The cohort was considered as a multistate disease model, cumulative incidences (CumIs) of events were estimated in a competing risks framework. A total of 1,654 patients were enrolled from 2006 to 2012 (HCV, 1,308; HBV, 315; HCV-HBV, 31). During a median follow-up of 34 months, at least one liver nodule was detected in 271 patients, confirmed as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 128 (4-year cumI: 10.5%) and cholangiocarcinoma in 3. HCC incidence was higher in HCV (4-year cumI: 11.4% vs. 7.4%; P = 0.05). HCC fulfilled Milan criteria in 79.3%, leading to curative treatment in 70.4%. Liver decompensation occurred more frequently in HCV patients (4-year cumI: 10.8% vs. 3.6%; P = 0.0004). Virological eradication/control was achieved in 34.1% of HCV and 88.6% of HBV patients and was associated with a marked decrease in HCC, decompensation, and bacterial infection incidences. Survival was shorter in HCV patients (4-year cumI: 91.6% vs. 97.2%; P = 0.0002). Death (n = 102; missing data: 6) was attributed to liver disease in 48 (47%; liver cancer: n = 18; miscellaneous, n = 30) and extrahepatic causes in 48 (47%; bacterial infection: n = 13; extrahepatic cancers: n = 10; cardiovascular events: n = 5; miscellaneous, n = 20). CONCLUSION: After 3 years of follow-up, extrahepatic events still explained half of deaths in patients with compensated VC. A strong decrease in complications was linked to virological eradication/control.

Genetic risk markers for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with alcoholic liver disease.

Various single nucleotide polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in alcoholic cirrhotic patients. Until now, only common variants conferring a small increase in liver cancer risk have been identified. These inherited factors are able to modulate several biological pathways involved in alcohol-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, such as ethanol metabolism, inflammation, oxidative stress, or iron and lipid homeostasis. How the combination of these variants might collectively define an individual genomic risk prediction is currently being investigated. The other challenge in clinical practice lies in defining how to integrate this genetic information with other clinical parameters so as to refine selection of alcoholic cirrhotic patients according to various classes of hepatocellular carcinoma risk.

Causes and consequences of portal vein thrombosis in 1,243 patients with cirrhosis: results of a longitudinal study.

UNLABELLED: In cirrhosis, portal vein thrombosis (PVT) could be a cause or a consequence of the progression of liver disease. We analyzed data from a prospective trial of ultrasound screening for hepatocellular carcinoma in order to identify risk factors for and the impact of PVT in patients with cirrhosis. In all, 1,243 adults with cirrhosis without PVT were enrolled from 43 liver units in France and Belgium between June 2000 and March 2006. The mean follow-up was 47 months. Doppler ultrasonography was used to check the portal vein. Progression of liver disease was defined by the development of: ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, variceal bleeding, prothrombin <45%, serum bilirubin >45 µmol/L, albumin <28 g/L, and/or creatinine >115 µmol/L. G20210A prothrombin and factor V gene mutations were assessed in sera stored at three large centers. The 5-year cumulative incidence of PVT was 10.7%. PVT was mostly partial and varied over time. The development of PVT was independently associated with baseline esophageal varices (P = 0.01) and prothrombin time (P = 0.002), but not with disease progression before PVT, or prothrombotic mutations. Disease progression was independently associated with baseline age (hazard ratio [HR] 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11-2.17), body mass index (HR 1.40; 95% CI: 1.01-1.95), prothrombin time (HR 0.79; 95% CI: 0.70-0.90), serum albumin (HR 0.97; 95% CI: 0.94-0.99), and esophageal varices (HR 1.70; 95% CI: 1.21-2.38) but not with the prior development of PVT (HR 1.32; 95% CI: 0.68-2.65). CONCLUSION: In patients with cirrhosis, the development of PVT is associated with the severity of liver disease at baseline, but does not follow a recent progression of liver disease. There is no evidence that the development of PVT is responsible for further progression of liver disease.

Do the epidemiology, physiological mechanisms and characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma in HIV-infected patients justify specific screening policies?

Reducing the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in HIV-infected patients has become a serious problem when managing these patients. There are many explanations for this disease evolution, which notably include their longer survival under effective antiviral therapy and also the more rapid evolution of chronic liver disease. Despite recent advances in the management of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) viral diseases, which will probably increase the number of patients achieving a virological response, HIV-infected patients with cirrhosis are still at risk of the onset of HCC. This evolution to HCC is also correlated to other comorbidities such as excessive alcohol consumption and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). HCC thus remains a public health issue in this population. The poor prognosis and aggressiveness of HCC have been fully demonstrated, but the mechanisms underlying this aggressiveness are not yet well defined. As well as underlying mechanisms that contribute to accelerating hepatocarcinogenesis in HIV-infected patients, there are other reasons why HIV-infected patients should be considered a higher risk population. This review discusses the principal epidemiological determinants; the mechanisms of pathogenesis; and the treatment of HCC in HIV/HBV and HIV/HCV coinfected patients. It also discusses the probable need to develop a specific screening policy for HCC in this population in order to prevent the rapid development and to make them more amenable to a curative treatment.

Impact of cytokine gene variants on the prediction and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Genetic polymorphisms modulate the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. We prospectively assessed the influence of 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TNFα, IL6, and IL1ß genes on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: TNFα (G-238A, C-863A, G-308A), IL6 (C-174G), and IL1ß (C-31T, C-511T) SNPs were assessed in 232 alcoholics and 253 HCV-infected patients with biopsy-proven cirrhosis, prospectively followed-up and screened for HCC. Their influence on HCC development was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: These variants did not influence the risk of HCC in alcoholic patients. Conversely, two variants influenced the risk of HCC occurrence in patients with HCV-related cirrhosis, namely the TNFα-308 (A) allele (HR = 2.4 [1.6-3.7], Log-rank <0.0001) and the IL1ß-31 (T) allele (HR = 1.5 [1.1-2.1], Log-rank = 0.004). When stratifying HCV-infected patients into four genotypic associations expected to progressively increase TNFα and IL1ß production, we observed increasing risk of HCC occurrence (Log-rank <0.0001) from group 1 to 4. The TNFα-308 (A) allele was the only genetic trait independently associated with risk of HCC in these patients, along with older age, male gender, BMI, and platelet count. These variables led to construction of a predictive score able to separate patients with HCV-related cirrhosis into three subgroups with progressively increasing 5-year cumulative incidences of 4.7%, 14.1%, and 36.3%, respectively (Log-rank <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Genetic heterogeneity in the TNFα and IL1ß gene promoters influences the risk of HCC in patients with HCV-induced cirrhosis. These genetic data, when incorporated into clinical scores, are able to refine selection of risk classes of HCC.

Serum 1H-NMR metabolomic fingerprints of acute-on-chronic liver failure in intensive care unit patients with alcoholic cirrhosis.

INTRODUCTION: Acute-on-chronic liver failure is characterized by acute deterioration of liver function in patients with compensated or decompensated, but stable, cirrhosis. However, there is no accurate definition of acute-on-chronic liver failure and physicians often use this term to describe different clinical entities. Metabolomics investigates metabolic changes in biological systems and identifies the biomarkers or metabolic profiles. Our study assessed the metabolomic profile of serum using proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy to identify metabolic changes related to acute-on-chronic liver failure. PATIENTS: Ninety-three patients with compensated or decompensated cirrhosis (CLF group) but stable liver function and 30 patients with cirrhosis and hospitalized for the management of an acute event who may be responsible of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF group), were fully analyzed. Blood samples were drawn at admission, and sera were separated and stored at -80°C until (1)H-NMR spectral analysis. Using orthogonal projection to latent-structure discriminant analyses, various metabolites contribute to the complete separation between these both groups. RESULTS: The predictability of the model was 0.73 (Q(2) Y) and the explained variance was 0.63 (R(2) Y). The main metabolites that had increased signals related to acute-on-chronic liver failure were lactate, pyruvate, ketone bodies, glutamine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and creatinine. High-density lipids were lower in the ALCF group than in CLF group. CONCLUSION: A serum metabolite fingerprint for acute-on-chronic liver failure, obtained with (1)H-NMR, was identified. Metabolomic profiling may aid clinical evaluation of patients with cirrhosis admitted into intensive care units with acute-on-chronic liver failure, and provide new insights into the metabolic processes involved in acute impairment of hepatic function.

Hepatocellular carcinoma screening in patients with compensated hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis aware of their HCV status improves survival: a modeling approach.

UNLABELLED: Because of the ongoing debate on the benefit of ultrasound (US) screening for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we assessed the impact of screening on hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related compensated cirrhosis patients aware of their HCV status. A Markov model simulated progression from HCC diagnosis to death in 700 patients with HCV-related compensated cirrhosis aware of their HCV status to estimate life expectancy (LE) and cumulative death at 5 years. Five scenarios were compared: S1, no screening; S2, screening by currently existing practices (57% access and effectiveness leading to the diagnosis of 42% at Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage [BCLC-0/A]); S3, S2 with increased access (97%); S4, S2 with an efficacy of screening close to that achieved in a randomized controlled trial leading to the diagnosis of 87% of patients at stage BCLC-0/A; S5, S3+S4. The analysis was corrected for lead-time bias. Currently existing practices of HCC screening increased LE by 11 months and reduced HCC mortality at 5 years by 6% compared to no screening (P = 0.0013). Compared to current screening practices, we found that: 1) increasing the rate of access to screening would increase LE by 7 months and reduce HCC mortality at 5 years by 5% (P = 0.045); 2) optimal screening would increase LE by 14 months and reduce HCC mortality at 5 years by 9% (P = 0.0002); 3) the combination of an increased rate of access and optimal effectiveness of HCC screening would increase LE by 31 months and decrease HCC mortality at 5 years by 20% (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The present study shows that US screening for HCC in patients with compensated HCV-related cirrhosis aware of their HCV status improves survival and emphasizes the crucial role of screening effectiveness.

Histopathologic comparison of monopolar versus no-touch multipolar radiofrequency ablation to treat hepatocellular carcinoma within Milan criteria.

PURPOSE: To compare histopathologically the completeness of radiofrequency (RF) ablation to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with monopolar or multipolar technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five consecutive patients (mean age, 59 y) with cirrhosis and HCC (n = 59) within Milan criteria received RF ablation and subsequently underwent liver transplantation (LT) for tumor progression or liver failure. Data were extracted retrospectively from a prospective database. Thirty nodules were treated with a monopolar device with internally cooled (n = 17) or perfused (n = 13) electrodes, and 29 were treated with a multipolar technique with internally cooled electrodes based on the "no-touch" concept. This consisted of inserting two or three straight electrodes around the nodule to avoid intratumor puncture to the greatest extent possible. Effectiveness of the three devices was compared by histopathologic examination of explants. Fisher exact and χ(2) tests and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. RESULTS: Mean sizes of nodules ablated (25, 22, and 21.6 mm) and median times from ablation to LT (11, 7.5, and 8.4 months) for patients treated with the monopolar internally cooled electrode device (MoICD), monopolar perfused electrode device (MoPED), and multipolar internally cooled electrode device (MuICD), respectively, were similar (P = .8 and P = .9, respectively). Pathologic examination showed complete necrosis for eight of 17 and six of 13 nodules treated with the MoICD and MoPED, respectively, versus 26 of 29 treated with the MuICD (P = .0019). In multivariate analysis, RF technique remained the predictive factor for complete necrosis (P = .005). CONCLUSIONS: Ablation of small HCCs with multipolar RF ablation based on the no-touch concept improves the rate of complete necrosis during pathologic examination compared with monopolar techniques.

Predicting recurrence following radiofrequency percutaneous ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Within 5 years after percutaneous ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma, roughly 70% of patients experience tumor recurrence. Relapses beyond curative options affected patients' survival. Ablation shares with resection common predictive factors of recurrence as size of the tumor, multinodularity and presence of vascular invasion. High serum α-fetoprotein level and markers of severity of underlying liver disease have also been found to be associated with recurrence and even survival. However, predictive values for recurrence of technical factors, histopathological and molecular tumors' features have been rarely studied. Few comparative studies have shown that ablation techniques impact recurrence rates. Moreover, although ablation does not allow analysis of the whole tumor, some reports suggest that biopsies allow histopathological and even molecular testing of the risk of recurrence.