Abstract:  ObjectiveTo analyze the prognostic factors in the surgical treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma. MethodsThe retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 93 patients ［61 males and 32 females, age (64±8)years with the range of 43-84 years］ with hilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent surgical treatments in the General Hospital of the Northern Theater from January 2010 to December 2017 were collected. According to preoperative different staging and intraoperative exploration of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, corresponding operations were performed. Observation indicators: (1) surgical treatment situations; (2) tumor typing, staging and degree of differentiation: ① tumor typing and staging, ② degree of tumor differentiation; (3) follow-up situations; (4) analysis of prognostic factors: ①univariate analysis, ②multivariate analysis; (5) subgroup analysis. Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was performed to detect survival time and survival rate of patients up to December 31, 2017. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival time and survival rate and to draw survival curves. Survival situations were analyzed by Log-rank test. The univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were performed using the Log-rank test and COX proportional hazard model respectively. Results(1) Surgical treatment situations: 93 patients underwent surgical treatments, including 51 undergoing radical resection, 23 undergoing palliative resection, 16 undergoing internal biliary drainage or external drainage, 3 undergoing abdominal laparotomy and intraoperative biopsy. (2) Tumor typing, staging and degree of differentiation. ① Tumor typing and staging: of the 93 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma, Bismuth-Corlette type Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲa, Ⅲb and Ⅳ were detected in 26, 22 , 9, 18 and 18 patients. TNM stage Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ were detected in 7, 34, 22 and 30 patients, Mayo Clinic stage 1, 2, 3, 4 were detected in 20, 19, 51 and 3 patients. ② Degree of tumor differentiation: results of pathological examination showed 16 of 93 patients with highly differentiated adenocarcinoma, 35 with moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, 37 with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, 4 with mucinous adenocarcinoma and 1 with papillary adenocarcinoma. (3) Follow-up situations: 93 patients were followed up for 6-36 months, with a median time of 24 months. The survival time of 93 patients was (21.4±2.1)months and the 1-, 2-, 3-year overall survival rates were 62.2%, 34.9% and 17.1%, respectively. (4) Analysis of prognostic factors: ① results of univariate analysis showed that preoperative level of TBil, preoperative level of CA19-9, preoperative level of CA24-2, surgical methods, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion, TNM staging, Mayo Clinic staging, degree of tumor differentiation were related factors affecting prognosis of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (χ2=6.321, 7.357, 6.590, 22.088, 11.173, 22.914, 23.326, 25.966, 39.512, P<0.05). ② Results of multivariate analysis showed that preoperative level of TBil, preoperative level of CA19-9, surgical methods, vascular invasion and degree of tumor differentiation were independent factors affecting prognosis of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (odds ratio=1.002, 1.001, 2.690, 2.626, 0.420, 95% confidence interval: 1.000-1.004, 1.000-1.002, 1.474-4.910, 1.333-5.134, 0.206-0.854, P<0.05). (5) Subgroup analysis: of the 93 patients, the survival time of 51 undergoing radical resection was (28.0±2.3)months, and the 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 75.3%, 57.5% and 25.7%, respectively; the survival time of 23 undergoing palliative resection was (14.0±2.4)months and the 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 60.9%, 13.0%, 0, respectively; the survival time of 19 undergoing biliary drainage or open exploration was (8.0±2.9)months and the 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 31.6%, 7.9%, 0, respectively. The survival of patients undergoing radical resection was significantly different from that of patients undergoing palliative resection, biliary drainage and open laparotomy respectively (χ2=10.939, 18.343, P<0.05). The survival of patients undergoing palliative resection was not statistically significant different from that of patients undergoing biliary drainage or exploration group (χ2=2.803, P>0.05). Of the 35 patients with vascular invasion, the overall survival time was (7.0±2.0)months and 1-, 2-, 3-year survival rates were 14.5%, 7.3%, 0 respectively in 18 with portal vein invasion only, (10.0±2.1)months and 37.5%, 18.8%, and 18.8% respectively in 8 with hepatic artery invasion, showing no statistically significant difference between the two groups (χ2=0.905, P>0.05). ConclusionsPreoperative level of TBil, preoperative level of CA19-9, surgical procedures, vascular invasion and degree of tumor differentiation are independent prognostic factors for patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Radical resection can prolong the survival time of patients compared with other surgical treatments.