Long-term outcomes of laparoscopic versus open liver resection for intrahepatic combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma with propensity score matching

Abstract

Background: Combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CCA) is a rare primary hepatic neoplasm. Currently, there are no well-structured studies that analyze the feasibility of laparoscopic liver resection in cHCC-CCA alone. This retrospective cohort study aimed to compare the long-term survival of laparoscopic liver resection with open liver resection in cHCC-CCA. Methods: Patients with a postoperative pathologic report of cHCC-CCA who underwent liver resection from August 2004 to December 2017 were included in this study. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was performed to analyze the 3-y disease-free survival and 3-y overall survival. Propensity score matching was done to reduce the influence of confounding variables. Results: A total of 145 patients were pathologically confirmed to have cHCC-CCA, of which 10 patients were excluded due to having received palliative surgery. Of the remaining 135 patients, 43 underwent laparoscopic and 92 underwent open liver resection; propensity score matching yielded 30 patients for each group. The 3-y overall survival was 38 (88.4%) in the laparoscopic group and 84 (91.3%) in the open group before propensity score matching (P =.678), and 25 (83.3%) and 28 (93.3%), respectively, after matching (P =.257). The 3-y disease-free survival was 24 (55.8%) in the laparoscopic group and 32 (34.8%) in the open group before matching (P =.040), and 17 (56.7%) and 16 (53.3%), respectively, after matching (P =.958). The hospital stay was shorter in the laparoscopic group before and after matching, while other operative outcomes were similar in both groups. Conclusion: Laparoscopic liver resection for cHCC-CCA is technically feasible and safe, having a shorter hospital stay without compromising oncological outcomes.