Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Liver Transplantation is Associated with Episodes of Acute Rejections

The impact of acute rejection (AR) after liver transplantation (LT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on patient outcome is uncertain. This aim of this study is to investigate whether AR is associated with HCC relapse and overall survival.

Patients undergoing LT for HCC between 2001 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed with regard to histopathological proven AR within the median time until recurrence. Cox's regression analysis was conducted revealing risk factors for HCC recurrence.

HCC recurred in 47 of 252 analyzed patients with a median time to recurrence of 20 months. Patients with AR (28.6%) had a significantly higher frequency of recurrence compared to patients without AR (13.0%, p=0.002). Multiple Cox regression analyses identified AR within 20 months to be an independent risk factor for HCC recurrence both as dichotomized (HR=2.91, 95%CI: 1.30-6.53; p=0.009) and as a continuous variable (HR=1.81, 95%CI: 1.28-2.54; p=0.001). HCC recurrence and AR were associated with higher grades of liver fibrosis one year after LT, when compared to patients without AR (p=0.019).

Our results demonstrate an association of AR with HCC recurrence after LT with implications for intervals of monitoring in tumor surveillance. Graft fibrosis and immune mechanisms are potentially related and causal interactions are worth further investigation.