Faculty Collaboration Database

Multi-Center Analysis of Liver Transplantation for Combined Hepatocellular Carcinoma-Cholangiocarcinoma Liver Tumors. J Am Coll Surg 2021 Apr;232(4):361-371

Date

12/15/2020

Pubmed ID

33316425

Pubmed Central ID

PMC8450541

DOI

10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.11.017

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85099617048 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   20 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma liver tumors (cHCC-CCA) with pathologic differentiation of both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma within the same tumor are not traditionally considered for liver transplantation due to perceived poor outcomes. Published results are from small cohorts and single centers. Through a multicenter collaboration, we performed the largest analysis to date of the utility of liver transplantation for cHCC-CCA.

STUDY DESIGN: Liver transplant and resection outcomes for HCC (n = 2,998) and cHCC-CCA (n = 208) were compared in a 12-center retrospective review (2009 to 2017). Pathology defined tumor type. Tumor burden was based on radiologic Milan criteria at time of diagnosis and applied to cHCC-CCA for uniform analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank test were used to determine overall survival and disease-free survival. Cox regression was used for multivariate survival analysis.

RESULTS: Liver transplantation for cHCC-CCA (n = 67) and HCC (n = 1,814) within Milan had no significant difference in overall survival (5-year cHCC-CCA 70.1%, HCC 73.4%, p = 0.806), despite higher cHCC-CCA recurrence rates (23.1% vs 11.5% 5 years, p < 0.001). Irrespective of tumor burden, cHCC-CCA tumor patient undergoing liver transplant had significantly superior overall survival (p = 0.047) and disease-free survival (p < 0.001) than those having resection. For cHCC-CCA within Milan, liver transplant was associated with improved disease-free survival over resection (70.3% vs 33.6% 5 years, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of tumor burden, outcomes after liver transplantation are superior to resection for patients with cHCC-CCA. Within Milan criteria, liver transplant for cHCC-CCA and HCC result in similar overall survival, justifying consideration of transplantation due to the higher chance of cure with liver transplantation in this traditionally excluded population.

Author List

Dageforde LA, Vachharajani N, Tabrizian P, Agopian V, Halazun K, Maynard E, Croome K, Nagorney D, Hong JC, Lee D, Ferrone C, Baker E, Jarnagin W, Hemming A, Schnickel G, Kimura S, Busuttil R, Lindemann J, Florman S, Holzner ML, Srouji R, Najjar M, Yohanathan L, Cheng J, Amin H, Rickert CA, Yang JD, Kim J, Pasko J, Chapman WC, Majella Doyle MB

Author

Joohyun Kim MD, PhD Associate Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aged
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
Cholangiocarcinoma
Disease-Free Survival
Hepatectomy
Humans
Kaplan-Meier Estimate
Liver Neoplasms
Liver Transplantation
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Recurrence, Local
Neoplasms, Complex and Mixed
Retrospective Studies
Tumor Burden