Hepatectomy is a reasonable option for older patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Background Hepatic resection is the main treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. However, surgery is generally stressful for older patients. Methods Clinicopathologic data and outcomes after hepatic resection were retrospectively investigated for older patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The younger group (n = 219) included patients aged 60 to 69 years, and the older group (n = 60) included patients >70 years of age. Results Hepatitis B virus was more common in the younger group than in the older group (64.5% vs 28.8%, P <.001). The occurrence of pneumonia was higher in older group than in the younger group (10.0% vs 2.3%, P =.015), but postoperative complications and mortality were not significantly different between the 2 groups. There was no statistically significant difference in disease-free survival rates between the 2 groups. Conclusions Although the incidence of postoperative pneumonia was higher in the older group than in the younger group, hepatic resection was justified for hepatocellular carcinoma in selected patients >70 years of age.