This is the second in our series on published research by Robert C. G. Martin II, M.D., Ph.D.

Robert C. G. Martin II, M.D., Ph.D., a surgical oncologist in multidisciplinary collaboration between Norton Cancer Institute and the University of Louisville, has published research in Annals of Surgical Oncology, in a paper titled “Actual 5-Year Survivors After Surgical Resection of Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma.”

This study sought to describe the prevalence and characteristics of actual five-year survivors after surgical treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC) — an analysis that has not previously been done.

Using a multi-institutional registry from 10 academic medical centers in the U.S., researchers analyzed patients who underwent resection for HC between 2000 and 2015. Researchers compared clinicopathologic characteristics, perioperative and long-term outcomes for five-year survivors and nonsurvivors.

Researchers identified several shared factors among five-year survivors, including lower median pretreatment CA 19-9 level, lower rate of lymph node involvement and R1 margins. However, the presence of these factors did not preclude a five-year survival after surgery. The research found the following to be comparative between five-year survivors and nonsurvivors: the frequencies of bile duct resection alone, major hepatectomy, caudate lobe resection, portal vein or hepatic artery resection, preoperative biliary sepsis, intraoperative blood transfusion, serious postoperative complications, and receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy.

Study conclusion: 1 in 8 patients with HC reaches the five-year survival milestone after resection. A five-year survival can be achieved even in the presence of traditionally unfavorable clinicopathologic factors.

You can read the entire study here.