Abstract
BACKGROUND: The postoperative recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), influenced by various factors, including microvascular invasion (MVI), plays a critical role in the long-term prognosis following radical liver resection. This study investigated potential adjuvant treatment strategies for HCC patients who exhibit multiple recurrence factors after radical resection. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on data from 243 patients who underwent radical resection for HCC and exhibited high recurrence factors at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University. Some of these patients received postoperative adjuvant therapy with Huaier granules, lenvatinib, or a combination of both, while others did not receive any postoperative adjuvant therapy. RESULTS: Survival analysis showed a more favorable prognosis in the adjuvant Huaier granules and lenvatinib groups (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, when compared to monotherapy, the combination therapy group exhibited significantly improved overall survival (OS) (P = 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the addition of Huaier granules to lenvatinib was an independent protective factor associated with improved OS (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.777, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.616-0.980, P = 0.033) and DFS (HR = 0.753, 95% CI = 0.615-0.920, P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: In this retrospective analysis, the combination of Huaier granules and lenvatinib as postoperative adjuvant therapy was associated with improved long-term prognosis in patients at high risk of HCC recurrence.