A Case of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma with Recurrence-Free Survival for Twelve Years after Five Resections for Intrahepatic Recurrence after Initial Hepatectomy

Abstract

A 73-year-old woman underwent right hepatic trisectionectomy for a mass forming type of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) of 4.5 cm in size. She then underwent five resections for intrahepatic recurrence at the following times after the initial surgery: i) 2 years and 1 month, 2 cm in segment 1, ii) 2 years and 9 months, 3 cm in segment 1, iii) 3 years and 8 months, 1.5 cm in segment 2, iv) 5 years and 9 months, 2 cm in segment 3, and v) 6 years and 11 months, 3 cm in segment 2. Histopathologically, all the resected tumors were diagnosed as the mass forming type of ICC with moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, but without capsule or vessel invasion. The patient remains alive and disease-free at 12 years after the initial surgery. We report a rare case of long-term survival achieved with repeated resections for intrahepatic recurrences of ICC.