Liver Transplantation in Malignancies: A Comprehensive and Systematic Review on Oncological Outcome

Liver transplantation (LT) is today's standard treatment for both end-stage liver disease and tumors; however, suitable grafts for LT are a scarce resource and outcome after LT is highly dependent on its underlying indication. Thus, patients must be carefully selected to optimize the number of life years gained per graft. This comprehensive and systematic review critically reflects the most recently published oncological outcome data after LT in malignancies based on the preoperative radiological findings.

A systematic literature search was conducted to detect preferentially most recent high-volume series or large database analysis on oncological outcomes after LT for both primary liver cancer and liver metastases between January 1, 2019, and November 14, 2020. A comprehensive review on the radiological assessment of the reviewed liver malignancies is included and its preoperative value for an outcome-driven indication reflected.

Twenty most recent high-volume or relevant studies including a total number of 2,521 patients were identified including 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, and 1 publications on oncological outcome after LT for hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocellular carcinoma, hepatic epitheloid hemangioendothelioma, hepatoblastoma, and both metastatic neuroendocrine tumors and colorectal cancer, respectively. The overall survival is comparable to patients without tumors if patients with malignancies are well selected for LT; however, this is highly dependent on tumor entity, tumor stage, and both neoadjuvant and concomitant treatment.

LT is a promising option for better survival in patients with malignant liver tumors in selected patients; however, the indication must be critically discussed prior to LT in every single case in the context of organ shortage.