Role of liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma

This review evaluates the available evidence to establish the role of liver transplantation in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma in India. Most liver transplants in India are living donor transplants due to the paucity of brain dead organ donors. There is sufficient evidence to permit allocation of organs to patients with tumors within the Milan criteria. If the waiting list time is more than 6 months, a down-staging locoregional treatment modality such a trans-arterial chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, resection or percutaneous ethanol injection may be used to prevent disease progression. Allocating scarce livers to patients with more advanced tumors may not be justifiable. However, living donor liver transplantation may be offered to medically fit patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with cirrhosis, offering a guarded prognosis to patients beyond the Milan or UCSF criteria. Vascular invasion and extra-hepatic disease should be absolute contraindications to liver transplantation.