E-cadherin expression in hepatocellular carcinoma treated with previous local treatment in patients undergoing living donor liver transplantation

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of previous local treatment on the E-cadherin (E-cad) expression in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) within the Milan criteria.

METHODS

Seventy-four of 204 patients with HCC underwent LDLT between 1997 and 2014. Previous local treatment for HCC was performed for 121 lesions in 47 patients (47/74, 63.5%). Histological and immunohistochemical E-cad expression analyses were conducted on the basis of the whole-liver histological examination technique.

RESULTS

The interval to LDLT after the initial and last treatments was 24 months (2-206) and 10.5 months (1-58), respectively. Preoperative imaging showed necrosis in 92 (92/121, 76.0%) lesions caused by the effects of local treatment, whereas the histological examinations revealed viable HCC cells in 22 (22/92, 23.9%) lesions, demonstrating well or moderate differentiation without vascular invasion. Immunohistochemically, the expression of E-cad was maintained in 17 viable (17/22, 77.3%) lesions. There were no signs of malignant transformation or sarcomatous changes in the HCCs treated with previous therapy. The recipients who maintained an E-cad expression in the lesion with local treatment showed no recurrence or distant metastasis after LDLT.

CONCLUSIONS

HCC cells remained in approximately 20% of the evaluated lesions, even those exhibiting necrosis on imaging of the explanted cirrhotic liver. However, the expression of E-cad was maintained in most of these lesions. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in the rate of recurrence after LDLT between the patients who did and those did not receive previous local treatment for HCC.