Portal vein infiltration in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: The relevance of correct classification.

e15651Background: Portal vein invasion (PVI) is has a significant impact on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients with PVI are classified as stage C in the BCLC score and systemic therapy is recommended. Patients with minor PVI are frequently misclassified due to radiological challenges in determining malignant PVI or non-adherence to guidelines. The concept of resection or TACE in limited PVI is sometimes followed with the assumption of a negligible influence on survival. Aim of this study is the reevaluation of PVI and the analysis of the impact of a misclassification. Methods: 763 patients with HCC of a total of 1413 were extracted from the clinical registry of our tertiary center as an ongoing effort to reevaluate the extent of PVI in all patients treated between 1/1/2000 and 12/31/2015. PVI was diagnosed by re-evaluating all available CT or MRI scans by an experienced liver imaging radiologist. PVI was documented using the Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan classifica...