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Living Donor Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Asian Perspective

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Abstract

Despite advancements in early diagnosis and medico-surgical treatment, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still a major cancer that causes substantial mortality in Asian countries. Liver transplantation (LT) has been accepted worldwide as the most effective treatment modality for patients with HCC; however, with the high incidence of HCC and low organ donation rate, Asia has developed distinctive features of indications and strategies for the application of LT. Unlike Western countries, living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) accounts for most LT cases for HCC in Asian countries, and most major transplantation centers perform LDLT for HCC patients with extended criteria. This article reviewed the current practice and outcome of LDLT for HCC from an Asian perspective and summarized the strategies that the high-volume LT centers in Asia use to obtain satisfactory oncologic results.

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  1. Division of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Department of Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88, Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Korea

    Young-In Yoon & Sung-Gyu Lee

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Correspondence to Young-In Yoon or Sung-Gyu Lee.

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Yoon, YI., Lee, SG. Living Donor Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Asian Perspective. Dig Dis Sci 64, 993–1000 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05551-4

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