Staging of hepatocellular carcinoma: assessment of the CLIP, Okuda, and Child-Pugh staging systems in a cohort of 257 patients in Toronto

Abstract

Background: A new staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has recently been reported from Italy (CLIP classification). It combines Child-Pugh staging with tumour criteria: tumour morphology, portal invasion, and alpha fetoprotein levels. Aims: To validate the use of the CLIP staging in a cohort of HCC patients and compare it with Okuda staging. Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with HCC diagnosed in the Toronto General Hospital between October 1994 and December 1998. Results: A total of 313 patients were identified; 19 patient with insufficient data and 37 transplant patients were excluded. Hence 257 patients in whom complete data for clinical staging were available were included in the study. The median survival of the cohort was 22.8 months. The CLIP stage 0 group (23.1% of the cohort) and the Okuda stage 1 group (50.7% of the cohort) had a five year survival rate of 67% and 35%, respectively (p<0.02). The CLIP stage 0 criteria more accurately defined patients with a good prognosis. The Okuda classification failed to identify two thirds of the 37 patients with a poor prognosis, who were identified by the CLIP criteria. Patients with a CLIP score >4 shared a very poor prognosis (median survival 1-3 months). Further classification above stage 4 was unnecessary. Summary: The CLIP classification for HCC is easy to implement and more accurate than the Okuda classification. Our cohort was different from the CLIP cohort (more hepatitis B) but the results were still consistent.

Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with major portal vein thrombosis by combined therapy with subcutaneous interferon-α and intra-arterial 5-fluorouracil; role of type 1 interferon receptor expression

“…Levy and Sherman (2002) reported that the CLIP classification for HCC is easier to implement and more accurate than the OKUDA classification. In addition, Koike et al (2001) suggested that serum PIVKA-II level is the most useful predisposing clinical parameter for the development of portal vein invasion.…”

Prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: Comparison of 7 staging systems in an American cohort

“…The CLIP system has been externally validated in Canadian, 34 Italian, 35 and Japanese cohorts. 19 CLIP was recently endorsed by a consensus conference on HCC staging because it was the only staging system externally validated.…”

Compromised lymphocytes infiltrate hepatocellular carcinoma: The role of T-regulatory cells

“…Local therapies such as percutaneous ethanol injection, thermal ablation, and intra-arterial chemoembolization are less successful, 5 and less than 10% of patients with moderate disease (Okuda stage 2) survive for 3 years. 6 Immunological mechanisms are important in the surveillance of malignancy and control of tumor progression. Cytotoxic CD8 ϩ lymphocytes (CTLs) and natural killer cells are potential effector cells in the control of tumor growth, although both require CD4 ϩ T helper 1 immune responses for optimal function.…”