Objective: To identify influential factors of cancer recurrence after liver resection.

Material and Method: A retrospective chart review was carried out in 66 patients who underwent R0 and R1 resection for ICC between 2002 and 2014 at Ramathibodi Hospital. Demographics data, pathological results and long term outcome were collected. Univariate and multivariate analysis were conducted to assess the risk factors of tumor recurrence.

Results: The median follow-up time was 18 months (range: 2 to 123 months), most of the patients experienced cancer recurrence in first year after surgery. The median time to recurrence was 9 months (range: 6.0 to 14.0), 5-year recurrence free survival (RFS) was 16.67%. The most common site of recurrence was the liver, followed by the lymph node. The most common pattern of recurrence was simultaneous intra- and extra-hepatic. The independent risk factor of the tumor recurrence after liver resection was tumor size >10 cm (HR, 2.804; 95% CI, 1.24 to 6.32; p = 0.013).

Conclusion: Large tumor size was the bad prognostic factor in ICC patients resulting in great risk of recurrence.

Keywords: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, Post-operative recurrence