Predictors of microvascular invasion in patients with solitary small hepatitis B related hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE To identify the risk factors for the presence of microvascular invasion (MVI) in patients with solitary small hepatitis B related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS The data of 215 patients who underwent liver resection between 2008 and 2011 at our hospital were reviewed. MVI was confirmed on pathological examination in 41 patients. Preoperative risk factors for MVI were analyzed using uni- and multi-variate analyses. RESULTS In the multivariate analysis, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) greater than 400 ng/mL, tumor size and hypersplenism were independently associated with MVI. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis suggested the best cut-off value for tumor size was greater than 3.1 cm. The ROC curve analysis further identified patients with more than one above-mentioned risk factor may suffer from MVI with 75.6% sensitivity and 75.3% specificity. The recurrence-free and long-term survival rates of patients with MVI were significantly lower than patients without MVI. CONCLUSIONS Patients with MVI may suffer from poor outcomes. AFP greater than 400 ng/mL, tumor size and hypersplenism were preoperative predictors of MVI in patients with solitary small hepatitis B related HCC.