Doctors can now predict individualised cancer relapse for liver cancer patients who have undergone surgery.
- New tool allows doctors to predict individualised cancer relapse
- The probability of relapse after surgery at 3 and 5 years is about 60 per cent and 70 per cent respectively
- Tool was developed after extensive analysis of first-line liver resection surgery between 1992 and 2007
With the Singapore Liver Cancer Recurrence (SLICER) Score, doctors can now predict individualised cancer relapse for liver cancer patients who have undergone surgery.
The SLICER Score is a new clinical tool developed by a team of doctors at National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
The tool calculates the risk of relapse, and predicts cancer recurrence at 3 and 5 years post-surgery.
The probability of relapse after surgery at 3 and 5 years is about 60 per cent and 70 per cent respectively.
“There is a need for an accurate model of prediction. This would guide patient counselling and effective scheduling of clinical surveillance, which is important as early detection of recurrence could be amenable to further curative surgical resection,” said Dr Tan Min Han, lead author and visiting consultant at NCCS.
The SLICER Score was developed after analysing 405 patients who underwent first-line liver resection surgery between 1992 and 2007.
"Surgery is the most important approach to cure patients with localised liver cancer."
The team identified key variables, such as tumour characteristics and liver cirrhosis, which account for both early and late recurrences of liver cancer.
To date, no randomised trials have been conducted to determine the benefit of risk-adjusted strategies in post-operative liver cancer. SLICER could serve as a prognostic model for such trials, and provide the foundation to better surveillance and treatment for liver cancer patients.
"Surgery is the most important approach to cure patients with localised liver cancer. We want to share SGH’s experience with the SLICER so that it can be a guide for the rest of the world to predict outcomes from this challenging operation,” explained A/Prof Cheow Peng Chung, Senior Consultant, Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Transplant Surgery, SGH, and co-author of the study.
“Moving forward, the SLICER could be paired with a better surveillance model to determine if high-risk patients truly benefit from closer surveillance.”
