Overall Survival of Young Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage B in a Retrospective Study Based on a Multicenter Cohort

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is usually diagnosed in patients at the age of > 45 years. We aimed to determine the prognosis of patients with HCC at the age of 30–44 years compared with that of patients at a more senior age.

Based on the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center database, a total of 1745 patients with HCC were retrospectively enrolled and were assigned to three age groups (30–44, 45–59, and 60–70 years). The primary endpoint was overall survival. Among baseline characteristics, five variables including sex, serum albumin level, total bilirubin level, the maximum tumor diameter, and the number of tumor nodules were adjusted using propensity score matching.

Patients aged 30–44 years presented a worse overall survival, a greater number of HCC nodules, a greater maximum tumor diameter, and higher serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) concentration than those aged 45–59 years in a crude analysis (p < 0.05). Using propensity score matching, the difference in overall survival between the two cohorts was canceled (p > 0.05).

The prognosis of patients with HCC at age 30–44 years was equal to that of patients aged 45–59 years.