Correlation between Resection Margin and Disease Recurrence with a Restricted Cubic Spline Model in Patients with Resected Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The relationship between resection margin (RM) and recurrence of resected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear.We reviewed clinical data for 419 patients with HCC. The oncologic outcomes were compared between 2 groups of patients classified according to the inflexion point of the restricted cubic spline plot.The patients were divided according to an RM of <1 cm (n = 233; narrow RM group) or ≥1 cm (n = 186; wide RM group). The 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate was lower (34.8 vs. 43.8%, p = 0.042) and recurrence near the resection site was more frequent (4.7 vs. 0%, p = 0.010) in the narrow RM group. Patients with multiple lesions, or prior transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) were excluded from subgroup analyses. In patients with a 2-5 cm HCC, the 5-year RFS was greater in the wide RM group (54.4 vs. 32.5%, p = 0.036). Narrow RM (hazard ratio 1.750, 95% CI 1.029-2.976, p = 0.039) was independently associated with disease recurrence.In patients with a single 2-5 cm HCC without prior TACE/RFA, an RM of ≥1 cm was associated with lower risk of recurrence after liver resection.