Role of Radioembolization for Biliary Tract and Primary Liver Cancer

Downstaging Hepatocellular Carcinoma before Transplantation: Role of Immunotherapy Versus Locoregional Approaches

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to be a leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. With advances in locoregional therapy for unresectable HCC during the last 2 decades and the recent expansion of transplant criteria for HCC, as well as ongoing organ shortages, patients are spending more time on the waitlist, which has resulted in an increased usage of locoregional therapies. The plethora of molecularly targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors under investigation represent the new horizon of treatment of HCC not only in advanced stages but also potentially at every stage of diagnosis and management.

Current Trends in Inpatient Care and In-Hospital Mortality of Cholangiocarcinoma in Germany: A Systematic Analysis between 2010 and 2019

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare malignant disease of the biliary tract with an increasing incidence and a high mortality worldwide. Systematic data on epidemiological trends, treatment strategies, and in-hospital mortality of CCA in Germany are largely missing. However, the evaluation and careful interpretation of these data could help to further improve the treatment strategies and outcome of CCA patients in the future. Methods: Standardized hospital discharge data from the German Federal Statistical Office were used to evaluate epidemiological and clinical trends as well as the in-hospital mortality of CCA in Germany between 2010 and 2019. Results: A total of 154,515 hospitalized CCA cases were included into the analyses. The number of cases significantly increased over time (p < 0.001), with intrahepatic CCA (62.5%) being the most prevalent tumor localization. Overall, in-hospital mortality was 11.4% and remained unchanged over time. In-hospital mortality was significantly associated with patients’ age and tumor localization. The presence of clinical complications such as (sub)acute liver failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), or acute renal failure significantly increased in-hospital mortality up to 77.6%. In-hospital mortality was significantly lower among patients treated at high annual case volume centers. Finally, treatment strategies for CCA significantly changed over time and showed decisive differences with respect to the hospitals’ annual case volume. Conclusions: Our data provide a systematic overview on hospitalized CCA patients in Germany. We identified relevant clinical and epidemiological risk factors associated with an increased in-hospital mortality that could help to further improve framework conditions for the management of CCA patients in the future.

Minimizing the risk of small-for-size syndrome after liver surgery

BACKGROUND

Primary and secondary liver tumors are not always amenable to resection due to location and size. Inadequate future liver remnant (FLR) may prevent patients from having a curative resection or may result in increased postoperative morbidity and mortality from complications related to small-for-size syndrome (SFSS).

DATA SOURCES

This comprehensive review analyzed the principles, mechanism and risk factors associated with SFSS and presented current available options in the evaluation of FLR when planning liver surgery. In addition, it provided a detailed description of specific modalities that can be used before, during or after surgery, in order to optimize the conditions for a safe resection and minimize the risk of SFSS.

RESULTS

Several methods which aim to reduce tumor burden, preserve healthy liver parenchyma, induce hypertrophy of FLR or prevent postoperative complications help minimize the risk of SFSS.

CONCLUSIONS

With those techniques the indications of radical treatment for patients with liver tumors have significantly expanded. The successful outcome depends on appropriate patient selection, the individualization and modification of interventions and the right timing of surgery.

SIRT in 2025

Selective internal radiation therapy represents an endovascular treatment option for patients with primary liver malignancies, in different clinical stages. Potential applications of this treatment are in early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, as a curative option, or in combination with systemic treatments in intermediate and advanced-stages. This review, based on existing literature and ongoing trials, will focus on the future of this treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, in combination with systemic treatments, or with the use of new devices and technological developments; it will also describe new potential future indications and structural and organizational perspectives.

Liver Transplantation for Unresectable Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: The Role of Sequencing Genetic Profiling

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a rare and aggressive primary liver tumor, characterized by a range of different clinical manifestations and by increasing incidence and mortality rates even after curative treatment with radical resection. In recent years, growing attention has been devoted to this disease and some evidence supports liver transplantation (LT) as an appropriate treatment for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma; evolving work has also provided a framework for better understanding the genetic basis of this cancer. The aim of this study was to provide a clinical description of our series of patients complemented with Next-Generation Sequencing genomic profiling. From 1999 to 2021, 12 patients who underwent LT with either iCCA or a combined hepatocellular and cholangiocellular carcinoma (HCC-iCCA) were included in this study. Mutations were observed in gene activating signaling pathways known to be involved with iCCA tumorigenesis (KRAS/MAPK, P53, PI3K-Akt/mTOR, cAMP, WNT, epigenetic regulation and chromatin remodeling). Among several others, a strong association was observed between the Notch pathway and tumor size (point-biserial rhopb = 0.93). Our results are suggestive of the benefit potentially derived from molecular analysis to improve our diagnostic capabilities and to devise new treatment protocols, and eventually ameliorate long-term survival of patients affected by iCCA or HCC-iCCA.