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BACKGROUND The current study aimed to examine the long-term survival after partial hepatectomy for patients with BCLC intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) stratified by the Bolondi's sub-staging model. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cohort consisted of 360 patients with BCLC intermediate stage HCC who underwent partial hepatectomy between January 2008 and February 2010. Patients were stratified into 3 subgroups (B1-B3) based on the Bolondi's sub-staging model. The last follow-up was conducted at February 2014. RESULTS Of these patients, 166, 171 and 23 patients had B1, B2, and B3 sub-stage HCC, respectively. The postoperative 5-year Overall survival (OS) rate for patients with these three sub-stages was 49.5%, 33.7% and 12.9%, respectively (P < 0.001). Compared with the reported survival outcomes from previous studies which used transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as first-line treatment, hepatectomy had a better median survival than TACE in B1 and B2 patients. On multivariable analysis, presence of esophageal and gastric varices, higher NDR score, presence of microvascular invasion, differentiation grade III-IV, and patterns of AFP decreases after surgery were the independent risk factors of OS in the sub-stages B1 and B2 patients. A nomogram which integrated all these independent risk factors was developed, with a C-index of 0.71 for OS prediction. The calibration curve showed an optimal agreement between prediction by the nomogram and actual observation. CONCLUSIONS The patients with intermediate stage HCC clarified as sub-stages B1 and B2 according to Bolondi's model had an optimal long-term survival following partial hepatectomy than TACE. Their postoperative prognosis could be accurately predicted by our proposed nomogram.