The appropriate treatment strategy for transplantable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with compensated cirrhosis remains controversial.

Surgical outcomes were reviewed in 136 cirrhotic patients with transplantable HCC who had undergone partial hepatectomy. Transplantable HCC was defined as that corresponding to Milan’s criteria.

The adverse prognostic factors for both survival and disease-free survival were histologic surgical margin of 5 mm or less, Child-Pugh B, and the presence of hepatitis C virus infection. The overall 5-year survival and disease-free survival rates of patients with 1 or none of the adverse prognostic factors were 73% and 33%, respectively, whereas those of patients with 2 or 3 adverse prognostic factors were 36% and 17%, respectively.

Transplantable HCC patients with 2 or 3 adverse prognostic factors should be considered candidates for liver transplantation, whereas patients with only 1 or none of the adverse prognostic factors are good candidates for partial hepatectomy.