Abstract
Background.
The role of orthotopic liver transplantation
in the treatment of patients with cirrhosis and
hepatocellular carcinoma is controversial, and determining
which patients are likely to have a good outcome after
liver transplantation is difficult.
Methods.
We studied 48 patients with cirrhosis who
had small, unresectable hepatocellular carcinomas and
who underwent liver transplantation. In 94 percent of the
patients, the cirrhosis was related to infection with hepatitis
B virus, hepatitis C virus, or both. The presence of tumor
was confirmed by biopsy or serum alpha-fetoprotein assay.
The criteria for eligibility for transplantation were the
presence of a tumor 5 cm or less in diameter in patients
with single hepatocellular carcinomas and no more than
three tumor nodules, each 3 cm or less in diameter, in patients
with multiple tumors. Twenty-eight patients with sufficient
hepatic function underwent treatment for the tumor,
mainly chemoembolization, before transplantation. After
liver transplantation, the patients were followed prospectively
for a median of 26 months (range, 9 to 54). No anticancer
treatment was given after transplantation.
Results.
The overall mortality rate was 17 percent. After
four years, the actuarial survival rate was 75 percent
and the rate of recurrence-free survival was 83 percent.
Hepatocellular carcinoma recurred in four patients (8 percent).
The overall and recurrence-free survival rates at
four years among the 35 patients (73 percent of the total)
who met the predetermined criteria for the selection of
small hepatocellular carcinomas at pathological review of
the explanted liver were 85 percent and 92 percent, respectively,
whereas the rates in the 13 patients (27 percent)
whose tumors exceeded these limits were 50 percent
and 59 percent, respectively (P
0.01 for overall
survival; P
0.002 for recurrence-free survival). In this
group of 48 patients with early-stage tumors, tumor–node–
metastasis status, the number of tumors, the serum alphafetoprotein
concentration, treatment received before transplantation,
and 10 other variables were not significantly
correlated with survival.
Conclusions.
Liver transplantation is an effective treatment
for small, unresectable hepatocellular carcinomas
in patients with cirrhosis. (N Engl J Med 1996;334:
693-9.)