Preoperative predictors for non-resectability in perihilar cholangiocarcinoma

Perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) is the most common subtype of CCA, usually diagnosed in the advanced disease stage and mostly associated with poor oncological outcomes [1]. Liver resection remains the gold standard of therapy and the only option for long-term survival in patients with pCCA [2]. Over the last decades, surgical therapy has evolved from isolated resection of the extrahepatic bile duct to extended liver resection with vascular reconstructions as well as multivisceral resections resulting in increased resectability rates for patients with advanced pCCA [3‐9]. Unfortunately, recurrence rates after curative intent surgery remain high [10]. Surgical margin, lymph node status, tumor differentiation as well as the involvement of vessels are the main prognostic factors for oncological outcomes after curative-intent surgery [11]. In case of irresectability due to cirrhosis or technical concerns, a small proportion of patients who are no candidates for resection might also be applicable to curative-intent therapy by transplantation after neoadjuvant therapy. Of note, the assessment for transplantation is strictly characterized by adherence to regulative protocols, e.g., the Mayo protocol [12]. However, most patients diagnosed with pCCA are not eligible for operative resection at the time of diagnosis due to distant metastasis or extensive vascular involvement at the liver hilum [1, 13, 14].

Despite the improvement of numerous preoperative imaging modalities, e.g., multiphase computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET)–CT, a notable amount undergoes surgical exploration and is intraoperatively assessed as not being resectable due to surgical reasons (infiltration of vessels, etc.), impaired liver function or previously undetected peritoneal carcinomatosis and distant lymph node metastases [1, 13]. At this point, there is no staging system sufficiently predicting resectability in pCCA [15].

Surgical exploration is associated with significant cost, impaired quality of life, postoperative complications, unnecessary hospitalization, and a delay in systemic therapy. Therefore, we here aimed to investigate the role of surgical exploration in patients with pCCA and identify preoperative predictors for irresectability of patients with pCCA undergoing operative exploration in curative intent.

Curative-intent surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for patients diagnosed with pCCA providing the best long-term prognosis among all available treatment modalities. Assessing surgical resectability upfront is therefore a major goal of the complex preoperative management of these patients. As surgical exploration without actual liver resection results in delayed systemic treatment among other disadvantages for the patient, we here aimed to identify preoperative predictors of non-resectablity in patients with pCCA. Within a large monocentric cohort of resected and surgically explored patients, age, PVE and arterial infiltration diagnosed on preoperative imaging were independent predictors of non-resectability for technical reasons (vascular infiltration without the possibility of reconstruction or resection extend larger than expected) and PVE, arterial infiltration and preoperative CA19-9 major predictors of non-resectability for oncological (distant lymph nodes, liver metastases and peritoneal carcinomatosis) and liver function (intraoperative diagnosis of cirrhosis) reasons. As technical resectability may only be assessed through explorative laparotomy, whereas oncological resectability and liver function could be adequately evaluated via laparoscopic exploration, our data suggests the routine utilization of diagnostic laparoscopy. This is especially relevant in patients displaying high-risk features for futile surgical exploration. Furthermore, survival analysis underlines the oncological impact of non-resectability and emphasizes the need for continuous efforts to improve resectability rates in these patients.

Although identified in separate analyses for oncological and technical reasons for non-resectability, preoperative risk factors such as old age, PVE, arterial infiltration, and elevated preoperative CA19-9 were commonly observed in patients who underwent laparotomy without subsequent resection.

PVE, as a tool to increase FLR in patients indicated for extended (mostly right-sided) hepatectomy, has been already used for several decades [23]. PVE decreases rates of post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) and mortality and therefore increases resectability in patients with pCCA [24, 25]. Preoperative PVE as a predictor for non-resectability has not been identified in the literature yet. Interestingly, PVE was statistically associated with both non-resectability due to oncological/liver function and technical reasons. A potential explanation might be that patients who underwent PVE had larger and more complex tumors requiring trisectionectomy instead of standard right or left hepatectomy. Thereby, it should be noted that PVE induces a delay in surgery, which increases the chance of tumor progression.

Generally, pCCA with arterial infiltration can be treated in a well-selected patient group with acceptable perioperative complication rates and equivalent oncologic outcomes [26‐28]. However, our findings underline arterial infiltration as a still very relevant obstacle in the surgical treatment of pCCA and as a marker of an advanced tumor stage. In a study focusing mostly on patients excluded from surgical therapy/exploration based on preoperative imaging features, arterial involvement as a predictor for non-resectability has also been described by Ruys et al. in 2013 [29]. A current proof-of-principle study in a small cohort showed that hepatic artery involvement in a three-dimensional planning tool based on preoperative CT scans was a risk factor for an R1 or R2 resection [30]. Given those findings, arterial involvement should carefully be evaluated preoperatively [31].

Interestingly, patient age above 70 years was independently associated with non-resectability. Evidence on age as a predictive marker for non-resectability is limited, but patients with pCCA undergoing liver resection with arterial resection/reconstruction tend to be younger in general [26, 32]. Thus, especially in older patients complex vascular resections might be considered intraoperatively as non-resectable due to the associated morbidity. The same accounts for tumors that are intraoperatively assessed as larger than initially expected.

Lastly, elevated CA 19–9 levels showed statistical significance for non-resectability. The value of CA 19–9 as a predictor for resectability was previously demonstrated in single-center analyses based on Asian patients with one study also controlling the prognostic value for hyperbilirubinemia and cholangitis [33, 34]. However, both studies made no differentiation with respect to the reason of irresectability.

Another interesting fact is the irrelevance of Bismuth type IV for non-resectability. This type represents the most frequent in our cohort, implying the generally advanced tumor stage in the group. Our finding in general strengthens an aggressive therapeutical approach also in higher tumor stages.

During the study period, preoperative laparoscopy was not conducted as part of standard clinical management, and upfront laparotomy with consecutive resection in cases showing resectable in preoperative imaging was preferred. The few patients of the unresected cohort who underwent diagnostic laparoscopy (22/109) showed suspicious preoperative imaging findings or were scheduled for the staging procedure for various other reasons. Thus, these patients were excluded from the logistic regressions identifying risk factors for unnecessary laparotomies. However, the other 87 patients which are a notable amount compared to the resected cohort of 209 patients (87/296, 29.4%) during the study period, underwent an unsuccessful laparotomy. It is debatable whether technical non-resectability at the liver hilum or tumor extent of the bile duct can be reliably assessed using diagnostic laparoscopy (37.9%, 33/87). In contrast, peritoneal carcinomatosis, liver metastases or distant nodal metastases as well as impaired quality of the liver parenchyma are easily assessable by means of laparoscopy (59.8%, 52/87). The value of diagnostic laparoscopy was discussed controversially in the past. A systematic review and meta-analysis by Coelen and coworkers included 12 studies with overall 800 patients and showed a pooled sensitivity of 52.2% for diagnostic accuracy of staging laparoscopy in pCCA [35]. However, in the case of peritoneal metastases sensitivity was 80.7%, which seems sufficient to recommend diagnostic laparoscopy. Besides technical limitations, peritoneal carcinomatosis is the main reason for non-resectability in our cohort. In our analysis, we combined oncological reasons for non-resectability and intraoperatively diagnosed low-quality liver parenchyma during explorative laparotomy because both features are assessable by means of diagnostic laparoscopy. Considering the morbidity of almost 45% in the patient group that underwent explorative laparotomy without liver resection and a median hospitalization of 9 days as well as a certain delay in systemic therapy, our results give a strong argument for diagnostic laparoscopy as a staging tool in patients with pCCA. While conventional surgery is currently state-of-the-art for the treatment of pCCA, the integration of minimally invasive robotic liver surgery (MIRLS) could be a valuable tool in the future as new data and studies about this topic indicate [36‐38]. Given the first reports of robotic resections in the case of pCCA, it appears also to be feasible to assess resectability within the liver hilum by means of robotic surgery. This would also allow us to clarify technical resectablity in a minimal-invasive manner overcoming the technical limitations of laparoscopy in this regard.

Based on our findings, we propose routine diagnostic laparoscopy to avoid unnecessary laparotomies in patients with high-risk features, e.g., advanced age, preoperative PVE, arterial infiltration, and notable CA 19–9 elevation as these parameters appear strongly to be correlated with irresectability in pCCA patients.

From a theoretical perspective, modern non-invasive diagnostic tools might be considered to omit surgical exploration in some patients. In terms of liver function assessment, the LiMAx test has been used in several studies over the last decade to optimize general patient selection in different indications of liver resection [18, 39, 40]. However, studies focusing on pCCA patients and their specific clinical situation, e.g., after PVE, in the presence of cholangitis and cholestasis are currently not existing. The aforementioned clinical events and complications might interfere with modern liver function tests and therefore reduce the validity of the results for the detection of underlying liver fibrosis or cirrhosis. Based on the given results in other indications, an evaluation of the LiMAx test or other modern function tests appears worthwhile. Also, the role of positron emission tomography (PET), which might detect distant lymph node metastases, is considered controversial in pCCA and CCC in general. In a large systematic review and meta-analysis (2019) a sensitivity of 88.4% and specificity of 69.1% regarding lymph node invasion, and a sensitivity of 85.4% and specificity of 89.7% for distant metastasis was demonstrated for the use of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG) PET for staging in patients with biliary tract cancer. Worse results are reported for the primary tumor with a sensitivity of 91.7% and specificity of only 51.3% for 18FDG-PET [41]. While the PET-Technique might certainly offer a benefit for the intrahepatic subtype of CCA, it is debatable whether pCCA patients (who generally suffer from ongoing cholangitis) also benefit from preoperative PET.

As expected, patients undergoing surgical exploration (both laparoscopically and open) display worse survival than patients proceeding to liver resection (with a median CCS of 6 months compared to 32 months). These results are in accordance with previous studies and underline the superiority of oncological resection compared to palliative care in pCCA [34]. The notable benefit in survival is the main argument for our aggressive approach to the disease with a large amount of trisectionectomies and vessel reconstructions in our cohort. It is also a good argument to conduct surgery in the elderly after careful case-by-case evaluation of the individual fitness of the patient.

Fairly, some potential limitations must be mentioned according to this study. As a single-centered study, all results reflect the authors’ individual therapeutic approach to pCCA. Our strategies comprise an aggressive approach to the disease with vessel resection and reconstruction on demand. Thus, a subset of patients might not have been subjected to surgical exploration in the setting of a more conservative approach to surgical treatment of pCCA. Also, does our monocentric data warrant further validation by independent data sets? Further, the retrospective nature of the study does compromise the generalizability, does not allow accuracy as controlled prospective studies, and might introduce undetected bias. Admittedly, the presented data is based on an inclusion period of more than 10 years in which the role and technical possibilities of laparoscopy have substantially changed.

Considering the limitations, we identified advanced Age, PVE, and arterial infiltration in the preoperative imaging as independent predictors for non-resectability due to technical reasons in the setting of explorative laparotomy. PVE, arterial infiltration, and elevated CA19-9 are independent predictors for non-resectability due to oncological/liver function reasons. Critical evaluation and assessment of these mostly easily available parameters are recommended for better therapeutical pathways. Thus, diagnostic laparoscopy, especially in these high-risk situations, should be used to reduce the amount of explorative laparotomies without subsequent liver resection. Finally, our findings should further be assessed in future multicentric and prospective studies.