Adjuvant radiotherapy in central hepatocellular carcinoma after narrow-margin hepatectomy:A 10-year real-world evidence

Objective:A prospective randomized control study investigated the feasibility and efficacy of adjuvant radiotherapy on patients with central hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after narrow-margin hepatectomy(<1 cm).This study presents an updated 10-year real-world evidence to further characterize the role of adjuvant radiotherapy.Methods:Patients with central HCC after narrow-margin hepatectomy(<1 cm)were prospectively assigned to adjuvant radiotherapy group and control group.Patients'outcome,adverse events,long-term recurrence and survival rates were investigated.Results:The 1-,5-,and 10-year recurrence-free survival(RFS)rates were 81.0%,43.9%,and 38.7%,respectively in adjuvant radiotherapy group and 71.7%,35.8%,and 24.2%,respectively in control group(log-rank test,P=0.09).The 1-,5-,and 10-year overall survival(OS)rates were 96.6%,54.7%,and 42.8%,respectively in adjuvant radiotherapy group and 90.2%,55.1%,and 30.0%,respectively in control group(log-rank test,P=0.20).The 1-,5-,and 10-year RFS rates for patients with small HCC(≤5 cm)were 91.1%,51.6%,and 48.4%,respectively in adjuvant radiotherapy group and 80.0%,36.6%,and 26.6%,respectively in control group(log-rank test,P=0.03).Landmark analysis demonstrated that patients with small HCC in adjuvant radiotherapy group had a significantly improved OS in second five years after treatment in comparison to patients in control group(log-rank test,P=0.05).Conclusions:Our updated results showed a sustained clinical benefit on reducing recurrence,improving longterm survival for small central HCC by adjuvant radiotherapy after narrow-margin hepatectomy.Long-term survival data also indicated that hepatectomy is an optimal treatment for selected patients with central HCC.