Background
The association of liver cirrhosis with the prognosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between liver cirrhosis (fibrosis score) and the long-term prognosis of patients with ICC.
Methods
SEER 18 registry from 2004 to 2015 was queried for this study. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to eliminate possible bias. In addition, multivariable analysis was utilized to adjust for potential confounders. The interaction test was performed to explore the impact of each stratified factor on the relationship between FS and patient survival. Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were the major endpoints.
Results
During the study period, 359 patients (66.5%) with lower fibrosis score (LFS; F0-4) and 181 patients (33.5%) with higher fibrosis score (HFS; F5-6) were enrolled. In the multivariable adjusted cohort (OS: n = 540; DSS: n = 417), patients with HFS had worse OS (HR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.85; P = 0.007) and DSS (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.97; P = 0.013) compared to patients with LFS. In the propensity-matched cohort, patients with HFS still had worse OS (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.08 to 2.09; P = 0.016) and DSS (HR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.05 to 2.26; P = 0.026) compared to patients with LFS. In multivariable analyses stratified by clinicopathologic features, patients with HFS were found to have significantly worse OS and DSS compared to those with LFS across all the subgroups.
Conclusion
Our outcomes indicated that fibrosis score is an independent risk factor for both overall and tumor-specific survival of ICC patients.