Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients Without Cirrhosis: The Fibrosis Stage Distribution, Characteristics and Survival

The data on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients without liver cirrhosis is scarce.

To study the epidemiology, underlying etiology and fibrosis distribution in noncirrhotic HCC and compare the survival outcomes to cirrhotic HCC.

We conducted a retrospective study including all adult patients diagnosed with HCC at two US tertiary academic centers from 2000 to 2015. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate the variables associated with patient survival.

Two thousand two hundred and thirty-seven HCC patients were included in the final analysis, of which, 13% had no liver cirrhosis. The most common underlying liver disease in non-cirrhotic patients was cryptogenic cause (40%), followed by nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (25.2%) and hepatitis C (19%). The percentage of F0–F1, F2, and F3 was 72%, 17%, and 11% (cryptogenic cause); 69%, 12%, and 19% (NAFLD); 50%, 17%, and 33% (alcohol); 33%, 39%, and 28% (hepatitis B); 20%, 40%, and 40% (hemochromatosis); and 12%, 40%, and 48% (hepatitis C), respectively. In non-cirrhotic compared to cirrhotic patients, the tumor was more likely to be larger and fell outside Milan criteria (all p < 0.001). Cirrhotic patients had significant shorter survival than non-cirrhotic patients (p < 0.001). On the multivariable analysis, having liver cirrhosis (HR 1.48; 1.21–1.82, p < 0.001), combined viral hepatitis and alcohol use (HR 1.51; 1.23–1.88, p < 0.001), morbid obesity (HR 1.31; 1.01–1.69, p = 0.040) and underweight (HR 2.06; 1.27–3.34, p = 0.004) were associated with worse patient survival.

The fibrosis distribution in non-cirrhotic HCC differed among each etiology of liver diseases. Despite more advanced HCC, patients without cirrhosis had significantly longer survival than those with cirrhosis.