Abstract
Despite the growing use of minimal clinically important difference (MCID) as a cancer outcome measure, no study has reported clinically significant outcomes in cancer patients. We defined MCID and evaluated the use of preoperative HRQoL for predicting MCID and survival after surgical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In total, 369 patients completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary (FACT-Hep) and the SF-36 at baseline and at two years post-operative at three tertiary academic hospitals. The corresponding MCID values were 3.6 (SF-36 physical component summary), 4.2 (SF-36 mental component summary), 5.4 (FACT-General total score), and 6.7 (FACT-Hep total score). The predictors of achieving postoperative MCID were significantly higher in patients who had low preoperative HRQoL score, advanced age, high education level, and high BMI (p < 0.05). However, patients with a high preoperative HRQoL score, high education level, high BMI, and low Charlson comorbidity index score were significantly associated with survival (p < 0.05). Preoperative HRQoL scores were predictive of MCID and overall survival after surgical resection of HCC. The findings of this study may be useful for managing the preoperative expectations of candidates for HCC resection and for developing shared decision-making procedures for patients undergoing surgical resection of HCC.