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Living Donor Liver Transplantation Outcomes for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Beyond Milan or UCSF Criteria

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Abstract

Liver transplantation (LT) is the most effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that arises from cirrhosis. The Milan and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) selection criteria have resulted in major improvements in patient survival. We assessed our outcomes for patients with HCC that were beyond the Milan and UCSF criteria after living donor liver transplantation. We reviewed the data for 109 patients with cirrhosis and HCC who underwent living donor right lobe liver transplantation (living donor liver transplantation; LDLT) during the period from July 2004 to July 2012. Sixteen (14.7 %) patients had HCC recurrences during a mean follow-up of 35.4 ± 26.2 months (range 4–100 months). The mean time to recurrence was 11 ± 9.4 months (range 4–26 months). Survival rates were not significantly different between patients with HCC that met and were beyond the Milan and UCSF criteria (p = 0.761 and p = 0.861, respectively). The Milan and UCSF criteria were not independent risk factors for HCC recurrence or patient survival. Only poorly differentiated tumors were associated with a lower survival rate (OR = 8.656, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.01–37.16; p = 0.004). Survival rates for patients with HCC that were beyond conventional selection criteria should encourage reconsidering the acceptable thresholds of these criteria so that more HCC patients may undergo LT without affecting outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liver Transplantation Center, Florence Nightingale Hospital, Abidei Hurriyet Cad. No: 164 Sisli, 34679, Istanbul, Turkey

    Yusuf Gunay, Necdet Guler, Onur Yaprak, Murat Dayangac, Murat Akyildiz, Gulum Altaca, Yildiray Yuzer & Yaman Tokat

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  1. Yusuf Gunay
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  2. Necdet Guler
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  3. Onur Yaprak
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  5. Murat Akyildiz
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  7. Yildiray Yuzer
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  8. Yaman Tokat
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Correspondence to Yusuf Gunay.

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Gunay, Y., Guler, N., Yaprak, O. et al. Living Donor Liver Transplantation Outcomes for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Beyond Milan or UCSF Criteria. Indian J Surg 77 (Suppl 3), 950–956 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12262-014-1078-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12262-014-1078-6

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