TABLE II.

Clinicopathologic Features of Patients Undergoing Transplant (n = 131) vs. Resection (n = 45) for HCC Within Milan Criteria

	OLT patients (n = 131), n (% group)	Resection patients within MC (n = 45), n (% group)	P-Value
Clinical features
Hepatitis B	45 (34.4)	8 (17.8)	0.04
Hepatitis C	87 (66.4)	21 (46.7)	0.02
Alcoholic cirrhosis	36 (27.5)	9 (20.0)	0.43
Raw MELD, median [range]	15 [6–39]	8 [6–23]	<0.001
Child-Pugh Class
Class A	37 (28.2%)	39 (86.7%)	<0.001
Class B	75 (57.3)	6 (13.3)
Class C	19 (14.5)	0
Pathologic features
Number of lesions
Unifocal	73 (55.7%)	39 (86.7%)	<0.001
Multifocal	58 (44.3)	6 (13.3)
Largest tumor size (cm)	2.5 [0.8–6.0]	3.9 [1.5–7.0]	<0.001
Differentiation
Well/moderate	122 (93.1%)	35 (77.8%)	0.01
Poor	9 (6.9)	10 (22.2)
Macroscopic vascular invasion	7 (5.3)	1 (2.2)	0.68
Microscopic vascular invasion	23 (17.6)	13 (28.9)	0.13
Margin positivity	0	3 (6.7)	0.02
Cirrhosis/fibrosis present	131 (100)	39 (86.7)	<0.001
Outcomes
30 day mortality	2 (1.5%)	3 (6.7%)	0.11
Recurrence, any	14 (10.7)	22 (48.9)	<0.001
Intrahepatic recurrence	11 (8.4)	19 (42.2)	<0.001
Extrahepatic recurrence	6 (4.6)	4 (8.9)	0.28

MC, Milan Criteria; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; OLT, orthotopic liver transplantation; MELD, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease.