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Crocetti L, Scalise P, Bozzi E, Campani D, Rossi P, Cervelli R, Bargellini I, Ghinolfi D, De Simone P, Cioni R. Microwave Ablation of Very-Early- and Early-Stage HCC: Efficacy Evaluation by Correlation with Histology after Liver Transplantation. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:3420. [PMID: 34298633 PMCID: PMC8303326 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13143420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Microwave (MW) ablation is a worldwide-diffused technique for the percutaneous ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nevertheless, the efficacy of this technique still needs to be confirmed in pathological specimens. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of MW ablation by correlation with histology in excised liver samples at the time of liver transplantation (LT). All patients with MW-ablated HCC who subsequently underwent LT between 2012 and 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. In the explanted livers, the treated lesions were evaluated at pathology, and the necrosis was classified as complete or partial. Thirty-six HCCs were ablated in 30 patients (20.9 ± 6.1 mm, a range of 10-30 mm). Ablations were performed with a single insertion of a MW antenna under ultrasound or CT guidance. A complete radiological response was demonstrated in 30/36 nodules (83.3%) in 24/30 patients (80%) at imaging performed one-month after MW ablation. At pathology, of the 36 treated nodules, 28 (77.8%) showed a complete necrosis, and 8 (22.2%) showed a pathological partial necrosis. Good agreement was found between the imaging performed one-month after treatment and the complete pathological response (Cohen's k = 0.65). The imaging accuracy in detecting a complete response to treatment was 88.9%. All lesions with complete necrosis did not show recurrence at follow-up imaging until transplantation. The rad-path correlation in the explanted livers showed that MW ablation achieved a high rate of complete necrosis if a macroscopical complete ablation was obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Crocetti
- Division of Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (P.S.); (E.B.); (P.R.); (R.C.); (I.B.); (R.C.)
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (D.C.); (P.D.S.)
| | - Paola Scalise
- Division of Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (P.S.); (E.B.); (P.R.); (R.C.); (I.B.); (R.C.)
| | - Elena Bozzi
- Division of Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (P.S.); (E.B.); (P.R.); (R.C.); (I.B.); (R.C.)
| | - Daniela Campani
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (D.C.); (P.D.S.)
- Division of Pathology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Piercarlo Rossi
- Division of Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (P.S.); (E.B.); (P.R.); (R.C.); (I.B.); (R.C.)
| | - Rosa Cervelli
- Division of Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (P.S.); (E.B.); (P.R.); (R.C.); (I.B.); (R.C.)
| | - Irene Bargellini
- Division of Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (P.S.); (E.B.); (P.R.); (R.C.); (I.B.); (R.C.)
| | - Davide Ghinolfi
- Division of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy;
| | - Paolo De Simone
- Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (D.C.); (P.D.S.)
- Division of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy;
| | - Roberto Cioni
- Division of Interventional Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (P.S.); (E.B.); (P.R.); (R.C.); (I.B.); (R.C.)
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Histological Correlation for Radiofrequency and Microwave Ablation in the Local Control of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) before Liver Transplantation: A Comprehensive Review. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 13:cancers13010104. [PMID: 33396289 PMCID: PMC7795634 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13010104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Revised: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Liver cancer is a growing problem around the world. Drugs for liver cancer have limited effect, there are not enough donors for liver transplants and many patients are not candidates for surgery to remove the tumor. In many of these cases, hyperthermia can destroy the tumor in situ with minimally invasive methods such as radiofrequency or microwave ablation. In this paper we review the literature evaluating success rates for complete ablation as judged by actual examination of treated tumors that were removed when patients received a liver transplant. While notable successes can be achieved with ablation, the published studies indicate both that complete treatment is not as common as thought and that imaging methods such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance scans do not completely identify residual cancer. There is therefore an important opportunity for improvement in the treatment of this disease. Abstract Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) are the most widely studied and applied ablation techniques for treating primary and secondary liver tumors. These techniques are considered curative for small hepatic tumors, with post-ablation outcomes most commonly assessed by an imaging follow up. However, there is increasing evidence of a discrepancy between radiological and pathological findings when ablated lesions are evaluated following liver resection or liver transplantation. A comprehensive review of the available literature reporting the complete pathological response (cPR) following RFA and MWA was performed to estimate the success rate and identify the factors associated with treatment failure. Following RFA, cPR is reported in 26–96% of tumors compared to 57–95% with MWA. Larger tumor size and vessels larger than 3 mm adjacent to the treated tumor are the most important factors identified by previous studies associated with viable residual tumors after RFA. Correlating post-ablation radiological studies with pathological findings shows that computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have low sensitivity but high specificity for detecting residual viable or recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors. There are promising recent reports combining multiprobe ablation techniques with three-dimensional treatment planning software and stereotactic-aiming instrumentation to achieve more than 90% cPR in both small and large HCC tumors. In conclusion, the reported success for achieving cPR in HCC following RFA and MWA is highly variable in different studies and decreases with increasing lesion size and unfavorable tumor characteristics. Very few studies have reported a high rate of cPR. As these studies are single-center and retrospective, they need to be further validated and reproduced in other clinical settings.
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Park S, Joo I, Lee DH, Bae JS, Yoo J, Kim SW, Lee JM. Diagnostic Performance of LI-RADS Treatment Response Algorithm for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Adding Ancillary Features to MRI Compared with Enhancement Patterns at CT and MRI. Radiology 2020; 296:554-561. [DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2020192797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sungeun Park
- From the Department of Radiology (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.) and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center (J.M.L.), Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.)
| | - Ijin Joo
- From the Department of Radiology (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.) and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center (J.M.L.), Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.)
| | - Dong Ho Lee
- From the Department of Radiology (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.) and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center (J.M.L.), Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.)
| | - Jae Seok Bae
- From the Department of Radiology (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.) and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center (J.M.L.), Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.)
| | - Jeongin Yoo
- From the Department of Radiology (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.) and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center (J.M.L.), Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.)
| | - Se Woo Kim
- From the Department of Radiology (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.) and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center (J.M.L.), Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.)
| | - Jeong Min Lee
- From the Department of Radiology (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.) and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center (J.M.L.), Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea; and Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea (S.P., I.J., D.H.L., J.S.B., J.Y., S.W.K., J.M.L.)
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Small (< 4 cm) Bosniak renal cysts: association of initial fluid percentage and enhancing solid volume thresholds with future lesion behavior. Abdom Radiol (NY) 2020; 45:799-806. [PMID: 31980865 DOI: 10.1007/s00261-020-02413-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Evaluate the fluid percentage (FP) and enhancing solid volume (SV) of small (< 4 cm) Bosniak 2F, 3 and 4 renal lesions and the association with Bosniak category at baseline and follow-up. METHODS Hospital database was searched from 1/1/2010 to 8/3/2018 for small (< 4 cm) Bosniak 2F, 3 and 4 lesions studied with initial and follow-up C+CT/MRI. Two radiologists blindly assigned Bosniak categories to first and last available studies. One radiologist performed volumetric analysis of each lesion, calculating the FP and SV. Association with Bosniak category was explored. RESULTS 121 patients (84:37 M:F) were identified with 136 renal lesions (84, 37 and 15 Bosniak category 2F, 3 and 4) and followed for 1-12.3 years (mean 3.5 years). 87% (73/84) of 2F lesions were downgraded or remained stable. 48% (25/52) of 3/4 lesions were downgraded. Higher FP was associated with a lower Bosniak category (p value = 0.0042). Increase in FP was associated with the probability of being downgraded on follow-up (OR 1.03, p value = 0.0036), while increase in fluid volume of lesion was directly associated with change in overall lesion size among lesions that were downgraded (b-estimate = 0.03, p value = 0.0003). All Bosniak 3/4 lesions with initial SV less than 0.05 cc were downgraded. CONCLUSION FP and SV are useful quantitative surrogates for Bosniak category and future behavior, respectively. Growth of small renal lesions by an increase in fluid volume and FP leads to a downgrade in Bosniak category. Initial SV less than 0.05 cc in Bosniak 3/4 lesions suggests possible future downgrade.
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Cools KS, Moon AM, Burke LM, McGinty KA, Strassle PD, Gerber DA. Validation of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System Treatment Response Criteria After Thermal Ablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Liver Transpl 2020; 26:203-214. [PMID: 31677319 PMCID: PMC6980979 DOI: 10.1002/lt.25673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Single hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors can be successfully eradicated with thermal ablation (TA). We assessed the validity of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System Treatment Response (LR-TR) criteria with a retrospective analysis of a single-center database of patients with small HCC tumors (<3 cm in diameter) who underwent both laparoscopic TA and liver transplantation (LT) from 2004 to 2018. Postablation MRIs were assigned LR-TR categories (nonviable, equivocal, and viable) for ablated lesions and Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) categories (probable or definite HCC) for untreated lesions. Interpretations were compared with the histopathology of the post-LT explanted liver. There were 45 patients with 81 tumors (59 ablated and 22 untreated; mean size, 2.2 cm), and 23 (39%) of the ablated tumors had viable HCC on histopathology. The sensitivity/specificity of LR-TR categories (nonviable/equivocal versus viable) of ablated tumors was 30%/99%, with a positive predictive value (PPV)/negative predictive value (NPV) of 93%/69%. The sensitivity varied with residual tumor size. The sensitivity/specificity of LI-RADS 4 and 5 diagnostic criteria at detecting new HCC was 65%/94%, respectively, with a PPV/NPV of 85%/84%. The interrater reliability (IRR) was high for LR-TR categories (90% agreement, Cohen's ĸ = 0.75) and for LI-RADS LR-4 and LR-5 diagnostic categories (91% agreement, Cohen's ĸ = 0.80). In patients with HCC <3 cm in diameter, LR-TR criteria after TA had high IRR but low sensitivity, suggesting that the LR-TR categories are precise but inaccurate. The low sensitivity may be secondary to TA's disruption in the local blood flow of the tissue, which could affect the arterial enhancement phase on MRI. Additional investigation and new technologies may be necessary to improve imaging after ablation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine S. Cools
- Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Andrew M. Moon
- Division of Gastroenterology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Lauren M.B. Burke
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Katrina A. McGinty
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC
| | - Paula D. Strassle
- Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC,Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina School of Public Health
| | - David A. Gerber
- Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC,Lineberger Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Goh F, Duhig EE, Clarke BE, McCaul E, Passmore L, Courtney D, Windsor M, Naidoo R, Franz L, Parsonson K, Yang IA, Bowman RV, Fong KM. Low tumour cell content in a lung tumour bank: implications for molecular characterisation. Pathology 2017; 49:611-617. [PMID: 28811084 DOI: 10.1016/j.pathol.2017.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2017] [Accepted: 07/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Lung cancer encompasses multiple malignant epithelial tumour types, each with specific targetable, potentially actionable mutations, such that precision management mandates accurate tumour typing. Molecular characterisation studies require high tumour cell content and low necrosis content, yet lung cancers are frequently a heterogeneous mixture of tumour and stromal cells. We hypothesised that there may be systematic differences in tumour cell content according to histological subtype, and that this may have implications for tumour banks as a resource for comprehensive molecular characterisation studies in lung cancer. To investigate this, we estimated tumour cell and necrosis content of 4267 samples resected from 752 primary lung tumour specimens contributed to a lung tissue bank. We found that banked lung cancer samples had low tumour cell content (33%) generally, although it was higher in carcinoids (77.5%) than other lung cancer subtypes. Tumour cells comprise a variable and often small component of banked resected tumour samples, and are accompanied by stromal reaction, inflammation, fibrosis, and normal structures. This has implications for the adequacy of unselected tumour bank samples for diagnostic and molecular investigations, and further research is needed to determine whether tumour cell content has a significant impact on analytical results in studies using tissue from tumour bank resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felicia Goh
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
| | - Edwina E Duhig
- Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, The John Flynn Hospital, Tugun, Qld, Australia
| | - Belinda E Clarke
- Pathology Queensland, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Elizabeth McCaul
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Linda Passmore
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Deborah Courtney
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Morgan Windsor
- Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Rishendren Naidoo
- Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Louise Franz
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Kylie Parsonson
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Ian A Yang
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Rayleen V Bowman
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
| | - Kwun M Fong
- University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
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Characterizing the Risk of False-Positive Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Recipients Transplanted With T2 MELD Exceptions. Transplantation 2017; 101:1099-1105. [DOI: 10.1097/tp.0000000000001660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Shan Y, Huang L, Xia Q. Salvage Liver Transplantation Leads to Poorer Outcome in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Compared with Primary Liver Transplantation. Sci Rep 2017; 7:44652. [PMID: 28294176 PMCID: PMC5353655 DOI: 10.1038/srep44652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Accepted: 02/13/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common liver malignancy. Salvage liver transplantation (SLT) is viewed as a feasible cure for recurrence of HCC after resectomy, but the effect is under dispute. A retrospective study examined data at Renji Hospital for 239 transplants from January 2006 to December 2015, including 211 who received primary liver transplantation (PLT) and 28 who underwent SLT. A multivariable cox regression model was employed to pick out relative factors to overall survival (OS) and recurrence free survival (RFS). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the bias. Both OS and RFS were worse in SLT group than in PLT group, especially for those patients within Milan criteria. Our study demonstrates that SLT bears higher risk of recurrence and death than PLT, indicating that SLT should be given a more careful thought at performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuhua Shan
- Department of Liver Surgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lifeng Huang
- Department of Liver Surgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiang Xia
- Department of Liver Surgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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Vasuri F, Malvi D, Rosini F, Baldin P, Fiorentino M, Paccapelo A, Ercolani G, Pinna AD, Golfieri R, Morselli-Labate AM, Grigioni WF, D’Errico-Grigioni A. Revisiting the role of pathological analysis in transarterial chemoembolization-treated hepatocellular carcinoma after transplantation. World J Gastroenterol 2014; 20:13538-13545. [PMID: 25309084 PMCID: PMC4188905 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i37.13538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2014] [Revised: 04/18/2014] [Accepted: 05/26/2014] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
AIM: To define the histopathological features predictive of post-transplant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after transarterial chemoembolization, applicable for recipient risk stratification.
METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the specimens of all suspicious nodules (total 275) from 101 consecutive liver transplant recipients which came to our Pathology Unit over a 6-year period. All nodules were sampled and analyzed, and follow-up data were collected. We finally considered 11 histological variables for each patient: total number of nodules, number of viable nodules, size of the major nodule, size of the major viable nodule, occurrence of microscopic vascular invasion, maximum Edmondson's grade, clear cell/sarcomatous changes, and the residual neoplastic volume. Survival data were computed by means of the Kaplan-Meier procedure and analyzed by means of the Cox proportional hazards model. The multivariate linear regression and a k-means cluster analysis were also used in order to compute the standardized histological score.
RESULTS: The total number of nodules, the residual neoplastic volume (the total volume of all evaluated nodules minus the necrotic portion) and the microvascular invasion entered the Cox multivariate hazard model with HCC recurrence as dependent variable. The histological score was therefore computed and a cluster analysis sorted recipients into 3 risk groups, with 3.3%, 18.5% and 53.8% respectively of tumor recurrence rates and 1.6%, 11.1% and 38.5% of tumor-related mortality respectively at the end of follow-up.
CONCLUSION: The histological score allows a reliable stratification of HCC recurrence risk, especially in those recipients found out to be beyond the Milan criteria after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).
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