Patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) experience similar outcomes with radiation segmentectomy regardless of whether they have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to findings published in the Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Beau Toskich, MD, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis ofpatients based on imaging response, tumor progression, time to progression, and overall survival. The study included 61 patients with NAFLD and 81 patients with HCV, most of whom had cirrhosis. Patients with NAFLD had higher BMI and worse albumin-bilirubin scores, while those with HCV were younger and had higher alpha-fetoprotein levels. Objective response rates were 100% in patients with NAFLD and 97% in patients with HCV. Target tumor progression occurred in a small number of patients in both groups, and a similar number of patients from each group underwent liver transplantation, with comparable rates of complete pathologic response. Overall survival was 53.9 months in the HCV group and not met in the NAFLD group.
