Objective: Patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) within the Milan criteria have an excellent outcome. We developed a program to analyze and prove that the Milan criteria can be expanded safely and effectively.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 117 HCC patients treated with liver transplantation between January 2013 and December 2017. Patients were grouped according to the Milan criteria, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) criteria, Up-to-seven criteria and Hangzhou criteria. Tumor-free and overall survival rates were investigated with a Kaplan-Meier analysis. Multivariable regression Cox models produced survival estimates for the patients that exceeded the Milan criteria.
Results: The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates of patients fulfilling the Milan criteria (n=44) were 100%, 87.5% and 78.9%, respectively. Compared with the Milan criteria, the UCSF criteria (n=50), Up-to-seven criteria (n=51) and Hangzhou criteria (n=86) provided an expansion of 13.6%, 15.9% and 95.9%, respectively. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates of patients fulfilling UCSF criteria, Up-to-seven criteria and Hangzhou criteria were 96.0%, 84.9%, 76.9%; 96.1%, 85.2%, 77.6% and 97.7%, 83.9%, 66.7%, respectively (P>0.05). Multifactor Cox regression showed that tumor diameter and microvascular invasion were independent risk factors for survival in patients that exceeded the Milan criteria.
Conclusion: Compared with the Milan criteria, the Hangzhou criteria can safely expand the scope of liver transplantation for HCC to a certain extent. By contrast, the UCSF criteria and Up-to-seven criteria result in a limited number of patients which need further expansion. Tumor diameter and microvascular invasion were the independent risk factors for survival in patients that exceeded the Milan criteria.
Keywords: Milan criteria; hepatocellular carcinoma; liver transplantation; survival.
© 2022. Huazhong University of Science and Technology.