Survival of patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma treated by percutaneous alcohol injection

Summary Background Once small (<10 mm) nodules, suspicious for hepatocellular carcinoma, are detected in cirrhotics, the European Association for the Study of the Liver guidelines recommend to delay histological confirmation and treatment until they increase in size. Aim To validate this policy by evaluating survival of 450 cirrhotics in Child-Pugh class A or B with unifocal ‘early’ hepatocellular carcinoma treated by percutaneous alcohol injection. Methods Patients were sorted by nodular size into three groups: ≤10 mm (n = 36, group A), >10 to ≤20 mm (n = 142, group B) and >20 to ≤30 mm (n = 272, group C). Overall and tumour-free survivals were estimated by Kaplan–Meier method. Results In groups A, B and C, mean follow-up was 33 ± 26, 34 ± 22 and 35 ± 25 months (P = 0.89), mean survival time was 63 ± 54, 57 ± 48 and 62 ± 66 months (P = 0.69) and mean tumour-free survival was 44 ± 47, 46 ± 58 and 41 ± 68 months (P = 0.51), respectively. When patients were sorted by Child status, mean survival time was 76 ± 82 and 38 ± 29 months in Child A and B (P < 0.0001). Conclusions The comparable survival of percutaneous alcohol injection-treated patients with single, early hepatocellular carcinoma sorted by nodular size supports the European Association for the Study of the Liver ‘wait-and-see’ policy for patients with lesions <10 mm, and suggests that allowing the nodules to grow prior to taking further diagnostic or therapeutic actions would not harm these patients.