In this study, three prospective cohorts of patients with BCLC stage 0-A HCC, underwent complete liver resection using different surgical approaches (OLR, LLR, and RALR), were established. After adequate periods of follow-up, the long-term oncological outcomes of the three different surgical approaches were compared, providing a higher level of evidence using a non-randomized comparative study based on propensity score matching (PSM) analysis.
The investigators established three prospective cohorts of patients with BCLC stage 0-A HCC, based on different surgical approaches (open, laparoscopic and robotic). After 5 years of follow-up, the investigators used propensity score matching (PSM) to reduce selection bias and then compared the long-term oncological outcomes of the three different surgical approaches, which might provide high-level evidence in non-randomized observational studies.