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Living-donor liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma

Journal of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery volume 13, pages 393–397 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Transplant surgeons have long dreamed of achieving a complete cure for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by replacing the liver with a new graft. Although the early results of liver transplantation for HCC were disappointing, with 5-year survival less than 40%, improved results in patients who met the so-called Milan criteria rekindled the enthusiasm for the treatment of HCC with liver transplantation. Furthermore, the recent development of living-donor liver transplantation in adults has allowed timely grafting for HCC patients and tentative expansion of the criteria for transplant candidacy in patients with HCC — although such expansion is fraught with controversy. Identification of a noninvasive marker that could predict the biological behavior as well as the prognosis of HCC would indeed be a major breakthrough.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Organ Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, N-15 W-7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8646, Japan

    Hiroyuki Furukawa & Tomomi Suzuki

  2. Division of Organ Transplantation, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    Tsuyoshi Shimamura

  3. Department of General Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    Masahiko Taniguchi, Kenichiro Yamashita, Toshiya Kamiyama, Michiaki Matsushita & Satoru Todo

Authors
  1. Hiroyuki Furukawa
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  2. Tsuyoshi Shimamura
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  3. Tomomi Suzuki
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  4. Masahiko Taniguchi
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  5. Kenichiro Yamashita
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  6. Toshiya Kamiyama
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  7. Michiaki Matsushita
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  8. Satoru Todo
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Cite this article

Furukawa, H., Shimamura, T., Suzuki, T. et al. Living-donor liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg 13, 393–397 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00534-005-1079-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00534-005-1079-8

Key words

  • Living-donor liver transplantation
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma
  • Micrometastasis
  • AFP mRNA
  • Criteria