The survival prognosis after adjuvant transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in primary liver cancer: Aretrospective study

This study assessed whether post-hepatectomy TACE improves outcomes for HCC patients and determined key prognostic factors. We analyzed 215 HCC cases (2018-2023), comparing surgery-only patients (n=95) with those receiving surgery plus TACE (n=120). We tracked clinical indicators and calculated survival rates, using appropriate statistical tests to analyze differences and identify outcome predictors. Patients receiving combined therapy showed better outcomes: 1-, 3-, and 5- year survival rates reached 96.5%, 67.0%, and 51.0% (median: 51 months) versus 84.0%, 49.5%, and 36.5% (median: 39 months) in the surgery-only group (p=0.018). Disease-free survival also improved significantly with combination therapy (p=0.027). Poor prognostic indicators included elevated AFP, advanced TNM stage, multiple tumors, large tumor size, HBsAg positivity, and vascular invasion, while TACE appeared protective. Adding TACE after hepatectomy markedly improves both survival and tumor-free periods for HCC patients, offering an effective strategy to enhance surgical results.