Zhang X, et al. - Authors here determined the outcomes of salvage liver transplantation (SLT) and re-resection (RR)/radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with respect to the time to recurrence after initial curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma. On the basis of findings, researchers recommended preferring SLT, rather than re-resection or RFA, as treatment option for patients with late recurrence.

Methods

• From 2007 and 2016, curative hepatectomy was performed on 756 patients for HCC in accordance with the Milan criteria.
• Among them, intrahepatic recurrence appeared in 152 patients; 36 underwent SLT and 116 underwent RR/RFA.
• The 2 groups were statistically compared regarding clinical data, overall survival (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS) (including subgroup analyses) according to the time to recurrence, and identification of prognostic factors was performed.

Results

• Much better DFS of the patients who underwent SLT was observed in comparison to patients who underwent RR/RFA (P = 0.002), particularly those with late recurrence (more than 12 months, P = 0.004).
• Findings suggested time to recurrence from initial hepatectomy as an independent predictor of OS and DFS.