Beyond histology: A tissue algorithm predictive of post-surgical recurrence in hepatocellular carcinomas, including TERT promoter mutation

Abstract Surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is burdened with a high recurrence rate and a lack of reliable prognostic factors. The aim of this study was to integrate the HCC pathological features with gene mutations to improve the prognostic role of pathological analysis. This is a monocentric prospective study, including 67 patients resected for HCC. All clinical data and histological features were collected, including tumor grade, architecture, margins, microvascular invasion, and microscopic portal vascular invasion (MPVI). Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed using a laboratory-developed multi-gene panel, allowing to amplify 330 amplicons (21.77 kb), covering the relevant targets for solid tumor analysis. The most represented mutations were TERT promoter ( n = 41, 61.2%), TP53 ( n = 18, 26.9%) and CTNNB1 ( n = 17, 25.4%). At follow-up, 13 (19.4%) patients experienced HCC recurrence: at multivariate analysis, tumor dimensions ( p = 0.040), MPVI ( p = 0.010), and TERT mutation ( p = 0.034) correlated with recurrence. Dimensions ≥ 4.5 cm (very close to AJCC stage pT3; 9 recurrences, p = 0.041, odd-ratio = 3.7), MPVI (9 recurrences, p = 0.062, OR = 3.3), and TERT (11 recurrences, p = 0.049, OR = 4.4) correlated with disease-free survival also at univariate analysis. The concomitant occurrence of these three variables was present in 7 cases, among which 5 recurred ( p = 0.002, OR = 15.94). In conclusion, NGS analysis in resected HCC could not only be used for future therapies but should be integrated with histopathology to predict the risk of tumor recurrence after surgical resection: TERT mutation is among the strongest predictors of tumor recurrence, together with tumor stage (dimensions) and the occurrence of MPVI, which should always be reported separately from the classic MVI.