The Application of Artificial Intelligence to Investigate Long-Term Outcomes and Assess Optimal Margin Width in Hepatectomy for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Laura Alaimo, Zorays Moazzam, Yutaka Endo, Henrique A Lima, Swatika P Butey, Andrea Ruzzenente, Alfredo Guglielmi, Luca Aldrighetti, Matthew Weiss, Todd W Bauer, Sorin Alexandrescu, George A Poultsides, Shishir K Maithel, Hugo P Marques, Guillaume Martel, Carlo Pulitano, Feng Shen, François Cauchy, Bas Groot Koerkamp, Itaru EndoMinoru Kitago, Alex Kim, Aslam Ejaz, Joal Beane, Jordan Cloyd, Timothy M Pawlik

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is associated with poor long-term outcomes, and limited evidence exists on optimal resection margin width. This study used artificial intelligence to investigate long-term outcomes and optimal margin width in hepatectomy for ICC.

METHODS: The study enrolled patients who underwent curative-intent resection for ICC between 1990 and 2020. The optimal survival tree (OST) was used to investigate overall (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS). An optimal policy tree (OPT) assigned treatment recommendations based on random forest (RF) counterfactual survival probabilities associated with each possible margin width between 0 and 20 mm.

RESULTS: Among 600 patients, the median resection margin was 4 mm (interquartile range [IQR], 2-10). Overall, 379 (63.2 %) patients experienced recurrence with a 5-year RFS of 28.3 % and a 5-year OS of 38.7 %. The OST identified five subgroups of patients with different OS rates based on tumor size, a carbohydrate antigen 19-9 [CA19-9] level higher than 200 U/mL, nodal status, margin width, and age (area under the curve [AUC]: training, 0.81; testing, 0.69). The patients with tumors smaller than 4.8 cm and a margin width of 2.5 mm or greater had a relative increase in 5-year OS of 37 % compared with the entire cohort. The OST for RFS estimated a 46 % improvement in the 5-year RFS for the patients younger than 60 years who had small (<4.8 cm) well- or moderately differentiated tumors without microvascular invasion. The OPT suggested five optimal margin widths to maximize the 5-year OS for the subgroups of patients based on age, tumor size, extent of hepatectomy, and CA19-9 levels.

CONCLUSIONS: Artificial intelligence OST identified subgroups within ICC relative to long-term outcomes. Although tumor biology dictated prognosis, the OPT suggested that different margin widths based on patient and disease characteristics may optimize ICC long-term survival.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAnnals of Surgical Oncology
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 23 Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, Society of Surgical Oncology.

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