Background: Liver transplantation (LT) represents a curative treatment for small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Potentially curable higher-stage HCC patients are denied LT due to the lack of cancer markers that predict progression and recurrence.
Methods: Thirty-eight candidates for LT with hepatitis C virus (HCV) cirrhosis and HCC were studied. Gene expression (Gexp) analysis of tumor samples was performed using microarrays.
Results: Twenty patients underwent transplantation, 13 progressed while waiting for transplantation, 4 are alive awaiting transplantation, and 1 died without progression while waiting for LT. Differences in GExp among patients who underwent LT or did not progress (n=25) versus those whose disease progressed while waiting for LT (n=13) were assessed. Thus, 54 probe sets (Pset) were significantly differentially expressed. Among LT patients, 10 Psets were differentially expressed between LT patients with the same explanted stage that recurred (n=5) versus LT patients who did not recur (n=5). Ninety-eight Psets were significantly associated with survival at the alpha=0.005 level.
Conclusions: Here, we have identified genes associated with HCC progression in HCV-HCC patients awaiting LT transplantation. A limited number of genes were related to overall survival and cancer-free survival after LT. Incorporation of these molecular markers could help to improve organ allocation for HCV-HCC patients.