Perioperative and long-term survival outcomes of laparoscopic versus laparotomic hepatectomy for BCLC stages 0–A hepatocellular carcinoma patients associated with or without microvascular invasion: a multicenter, propensity score matching analysis

Purpose To analyze the long-term oncological outcomes of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages 0–A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients associated with or without microvascular invasion (MVI) treated with laparoscopic versus laparotomic liver resection. Methods Clinicopathological data of HCC patients with BCLC stages 0–A from four medical centers were retrospectively reviewed. The survival outcomes of patients who underwent laparoscopic hepatectomy were compared with those who underwent laparotomic hepatectomy. Subgroup analyses in terms of MVI were further performed to explore the effect of surgical approaches on the long-term survival outcomes. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to match patients between the laparoscopic and laparotomic resection groups in a 1:1 ratio. Results 495 HCC patients at BCLC stages 0–A were enrolled, including 243 in the laparoscopic resection group and 252 in the laparotomic resection group. Laparoscopic resection group had a shorter operation time, less blood loss, a lower frequency of blood transfusion and postoperative complication rates. The laparoscopic resection group had a significantly better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) than the laparotomic resection group before and after PSM. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that OS and RFS of patients without MVI were remarkably better in the laparoscopic resection group compared with the laparotomic resection group. However, no significant differences in OS and RFS between the two groups were found in patients with MVI after PSM. Conclusions Pure laparoscopic hepatectomy for patients with BCLC stages 0–A HCC can be performed safely with favorable perioperative and long-term oncological outcomes at high-volume liver cancer centers, regardless of the presence of MVI.