Salvage living-donor liver transplantation to previously hepatectomized hepatocellular carcinoma patients:is it a reasonable strategy?

Salvage liver transplantation (LT) has been performed for recurred hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) or for deterioration of liver function after resection of HCC. Controversies arise, howeverover the technical feasibility of salvage LT in patientswho underwent liver surgery,

Hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after acute liver allograft rejection treatment: A multicenter European experience

Background:During the last decades,several risk factors for the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after liver transplantation(LT)have been investigated.However,the impact of two important drivers of oncogenesis,namely the immunosuppression and the treatment of acute cellular rejection(ACR)have been marginally addressed.This study aimed at investigating the impact of ACR treatment on the incidence of tumor recurrence in a large European HCC-LT population.Methods:Seven hundred and eighty-one adult patients transplanted between February 1,1985 and June 30,2016 were retrospectively analyzed.After propensity score match,116 patients treated for ACR using steroid boluses were compared with 115 patients who did not present any ACR or a histologic but clinical irrelevant ACR.Results:Steroid boluses treated patients had a 18-fold higher overall incidence of HCC recurrence than those non-treated patients(16.4%vs.0.9%;P<0.0001).At multivariate Cox regression analysis,steroid boluses used to treat ACR were an independent risk factor for HCC recurrence(HR=14.2;95%CI:1.8–110.4;P=0.010).Conclusions:The decision to treat ACR as well as to reinforce immunosuppression load should be cautiously taken in view of the presented results.Prospective studies are needed to further elucidate the clinical impact of immunosuppression on HCC recurrence after transplantation.

Transarterial chemoembolization using 40 μm drug eluting beads for hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM To assess the safety and efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization(TACE) of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) using a new generation of 40 μm drug eluting beads in patients not eligible for curative treatment.METHODS Drug eluting bead TACE(DEB-TACE) using a new generation of microspheres(embozene tandem,40 μm) preloaded with 100 mg of doxorubicin was performed on 48 early or intermediate HCC patients with compensatedcirrhosis.Response to therapy was assessed with Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors(RECIST) and modified RECIST(m RECIST) guidelines applied to computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.Eleven out of the 48 treated patients treated progressed on to receive liver orthotopic transplantation(OLT).This allowed for histological analysis on the treated explanted nodules.RESULTS DEB-TACE with 40 μm showed a good safety profile without major complications or 30-d mortality.The objective response rate of treated tumors was 72.6% and 26.7% according to m RECIST and RECIST respectively.Histological examination in 11 patients assigned to OLT showed a necrosis degree > 90% in 78.6% of cases.The overall time to progression was 13 mo(11-21).CONCLUSION DEB-TACE with 40 μm particles is an effective treatment for the treatment of HCC in early-intermediate patients(Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage A/B) with a good safety profile and good results in term of objective response rate and necrosis.