Is it safe to administer neoadjuvant chemotherapy to patients undergoing hepatectomy for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma? ACS-NSQIP propensity-matched analysis

HPB (Oxford). 2022 Sep;24(9):1535-1542. doi: 10.1016/j.hpb.2022.03.010. Epub 2022 Mar 31.

Abstract

Background: The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is increasing. The objective of this study was to compare the 30-day post-operative complications and length-of-stay (LOS) between patients undergoing hepatectomy for iCCA with and without NAC.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using the ACS-NSQIP database queried from 2014 to 2018. Patients with NAC receipt were propensity-score matched into 1:3 ratio with controls using the greedy-matching algorithm and a caliper of 0.2. Logistic and Poisson regression models were used to estimate the effect sizes.

Results: A total of 1508 patients who underwent hepatectomy for iCCA were included. 706 patients remained after matching and balance were achieved. The NAC group had 110 (60.1%) complications vs. 289 (55.3%) complications in the non-NAC group (p = 0.29). NAC was not associated with worse 30-day postoperative complications [OR 1.24, 95% CI: 0.87-1.76; p = 0.24]. Post-operative LOS in the NAC group was 8.56 days (mean, SD 7.4) vs. non-NAC group 9.27 days (mean, SD 8.41, p = 0.32). NAC was not associated with longer post-operative LOS [RR 0.93, 95% CI:0.80, 1.08; p = 0.32].

Conclusion: NAC may be safely administered without increasing the risk of 30-day complications or post-operative hospital LOS.

MeSH terms

  • Bile Duct Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Bile Duct Neoplasms* / surgery
  • Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic
  • Cholangiocarcinoma* / drug therapy
  • Cholangiocarcinoma* / surgery
  • Hepatectomy / adverse effects
  • Humans
  • Neoadjuvant Therapy / adverse effects
  • Postoperative Complications / etiology
  • Propensity Score
  • Retrospective Studies