A prognostic model combining hilar lymph node metastasis and preoperative anemia to predict outcomes after curative resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

@article{deng2026prognostic,
  title = {{A prognostic model combining hilar lymph node metastasis and preoperative anemia to predict outcomes after curative resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.}},
  author = {Min Deng and Benyi He and Zenghai Lin and Deyao Zhang and Yuxiong Qiu and Dong Li and Yajun Tang and Xianchao Guo and Guojia Yuan and Wei Qin and Hao Cai and Yudong Qiu and Zubing Chen and Di Tang and Wei Wei and Rongping Guo},
  journal = {BMC cancer},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1186/s12885-026-16604-z},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897511},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - A prognostic model combining hilar lymph node metastasis and preoperative anemia to predict outcomes after curative resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
AU  - Min Deng
AU  - Benyi He
AU  - Zenghai Lin
AU  - Deyao Zhang
AU  - Yuxiong Qiu
AU  - Dong Li
AU  - Yajun Tang
AU  - Xianchao Guo
AU  - Guojia Yuan
AU  - Wei Qin
AU  - Hao Cai
AU  - Yudong Qiu
AU  - Zubing Chen
AU  - Di Tang
AU  - Wei Wei
AU  - Rongping Guo
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/01
JO  - BMC cancer
DO  - 10.1186/s12885-026-16604-z
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42897511
AB  - Background  The role of hilar lymph node metastasis (LNM) in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) was investigated and a simple postoperative risk-stratification system combining LNM and preoperative anemia was established to predict the outcome of patients with ICC after curative resection.Methods  A retrospective analysis was conducted on 384 patients who underwent hepatectomy for ICC. Both postoperative clinical outcomes and long-term oncological outcomes were systematically evaluated. Subsequently, predictive models were developed to assess the risks of tumor recurrence, overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS).Results  The primary cohort demonstrated 65.2% recurrence and 13.1-month median RFS (1-/3-/5-year rates: 51.9%/37.6%/25.0%), with median OS of 31.1 months (1-/3-/5-year rates: 81.8%/63.3%/54.1%). The external validation cohort showed 79.4% recurrence, 11.7-month median RFS (1-/3-/5-year rates: 49.5%/11.8%/5.9%), and 16.2-month median OS (1-/3-/5-year rates: 98.1%/10.4%/6.4%). We developed nomograms for recurrence, OS, and RFS incorporating LNM and preoperative anemia, yielding C-indices of 0.881, 0.802, and 0.758, respectively. Risk-stratified analysis revealed significant prognostic discrimination: high-risk patients demonstrated substantially inferior 5-year OS compared to low-risk patients (19.6% vs. 86.6%, P < 0.001), with median OS of 16.7 months versus not reached. Similarly, median RFS declined from not reached in low-risk patients to 6.1 months in high-risk patients. These results were confirmed in the external validation cohort, where high-risk status corresponded to a median OS of 14.4 months and median RFS of 8.1 months (both P < 0.001).Conclusions  The integration of LNM status and preoperative anemia emerges as a novel and clinically valuable prognostic indicator, effectively predicting outcomes in patients with ICC following curative resection, thereby providing tailored clinical guidance for postoperative adjuvant therapy selection and intensive surveillance planning.
SN  - 1471-2407
ER  -