Efficacy of Adjuvant Transarterial Chemoembolization after Radical Hepatectomy in Solitary Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients: A Retrospective Study

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Background: More and more studies have suggested that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with high-risk recurrence factors can benefit the most from postoperative adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization (PA-TACE) for its potential effect in delaying cancer recurrence. However, it remains unclear if solitary HCC (SHCC) patients particularly those without high-risk recurrence factors should also receive PA-TACE. This study aimed to analyze the efficacy of PA-TACE in them. Methods: Retrospectively, we enrolled 123 SHCC patients who either received radical hepatectomy alone (No TACE group, n = 39) or followed by PA-TACE (PA-TACE group, n = 84) in our institution. Prognostic risk factors, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazard regression model, the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test. Results: Liver cirrhosis was the only independent risk factor for SHCC patients. Overall, the PA-TACE group had no improved OS (P = 0.977) but worse DFS compared with the No TACE group (P = 0.045). Consistently, in subgroup analysis, SHCC patients with negative microvascular invasion (MVI), tumor size ≤ 5 cm and preoperative alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) < 400 ng/ml had similar OS (P = 0.466, P = 0.864, P = 0.488, respectively) but even worse DFS (P = 0.035, P = 0.040, P = 0.019, respectively) than those in the No TACE group. Besides, there was no significant difference in DFS and OS between the two groups of SHCC patients with liver cirrhosis (P = 0.342, P = 0.941, respectively). Conclusions: PA-TACE may not improve the long-term survival of SHCC patients, but may even potentially promote their postoperative tumor recurrence, especially for those with MVI-negative, tumor size ≤ 5 cm, and preoperative AFP < 400 ng/ml.