Refusal of Cancer-Directed Surgery Strongly Impairs Survival of Patients with Localized Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND This study investigated the frequency of patients with HCC who refused cancer-directed surgery and the characteristics and outcomes of these patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective study was performed using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End RESULTS (SEER) Program. Characteristics of patients who refused CDS were compared with those who accepted surgery using logistic regression. The effect of refusing CDS on mortality was evaluated by Cox proportional hazards analysis. RESULTS Among 4373 surgical candidates, 142 patients (3.2%) refused the recommended CDS. The patients who refused CDS were frequently older, African American, widowed or divorced, and had advanced-stage tumors. In a logistic regression analysis, older age, African American, and being divorced or widowed were independently associated with refusal of CDS. After adjusting for other patient and tumor characteristics, the patients who refused CDS had a 2.5-fold (95% confidence interval, 2.339-3.189) higher risk of dying from HCC in comparison with patients who had CDS. CONCLUSIONS The high rate of refusal may contribute in part to the disparity in utilization of CDS. Of greatest concern is that the patients who declined CDS had an impaired survival. This information might be helpful for patients to make a better-informed decision.