Updates and Expert Opinions on Liver Transplantation for Gastrointestinal Malignancies

Medicina (Kaunas). 2023 Jul 13;59(7):1290. doi: 10.3390/medicina59071290.

Abstract

Transplant oncology is a relatively new field in which transplantation is used to treat patients who would otherwise be unresectable. New anticancer treatment paradigms using tumor and transplant immunology and cancer immunogenomics are emerging. In turn, liver transplantation (LT) has become a potential therapy for certain patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) with liver metastasis, hepatocellular (HCC), cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), and metastatic neuroendocrine tumor (NET) of the liver. Although there are established criteria for LT in HCC, evidence regarding LT as a treatment modality for certain gastrointestinal malignancies is still debated. The aim of this review is to highlight updates in the role of LT for certain malignancies, including HCC, metastatic CRC, hilar CCA, and neuroendocrine tumor (NET), as well as contextualize LT use and discuss controversies in transplant oncology.

Keywords: gastrointestinal malignancies; liver transplant; transplant oncology.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bile Duct Neoplasms*
  • Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular* / pathology
  • Expert Testimony
  • Gastrointestinal Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Gastrointestinal Neoplasms* / surgery
  • Humans
  • Liver Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Liver Neoplasms* / surgery
  • Liver Transplantation* / adverse effects
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors*
  • Treatment Outcome

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.