Impact of multiple liver resections prior to salvage liver transplantation on survival in patients with recurrent HCC

OBJECTIVES: Salvage liver transplantation (SLT) is a controversial technique that has been reported to be acceptable for the management of patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after primary hepatic resection (HR). However, whether the number of times liver resection is performed has an impact on survival after SLT has not yet been reported. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: The level of care is primary and the study was carried out at only 1 centre. PARTICIPANTS: The study included 59 patients who underwent SLT for HCC from September 2001 to December 2012. 51 patients underwent HR only once before SLT, while the remaining 8 patients underwent HR more than once before SLT (HR=2 [7], HR=3, [1]). PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: In this study, the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall and tumour-free survival outcomes between the 2 groups were compared. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between patients who underwent HR once and those who underwent HR more than once with respect to overall or tumour-free survival after receiving SLT. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates for patients who underwent HR once were 72.9%, 35.3% and 35.5% vs 50%, 50% and 50%, respectively (p=0.986), while the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year tumour-free survival rates for those who underwent HR more than once were 66.3%, 55.3% and 44.4% vs 40%, 40% and 40%, respectively (p=0.790). CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in the survival rate of patients who underwent HR once before SLT and those who underwent HR more than once. This suggests that SLT is a reasonable choice for patients who suffer from recurrent HCC after HR. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: This is a retrospective study and no registry or number is required.