Liver transplantation for secondary liver tumours: The difficult balance between survival and recurrence

Abstract

Assessing the balance between survival and recurrence after transplantation for secondary liver tumours should be based on the type of cancer in question. For neuroendocrine liver metastases, high recurrence rates are clearly related to reduced long-term survival. For colorectal liver metastases, experience to date indicates that pulmonary recurrence alone has a modest impact on survival outcomes. Further studies focusing on this group of patients will be important for the development of this field of transplant oncology. Liver transplantation for secondary liver tumours should be implemented in accordance with stringent transplant criteria and preferably in the context of prospective trials. Expansion of the donor pool by utilising extended criteria donors and partial liver transplantation could be considered for this indication.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Disease free survival; Liver metastasis; Liver transplantation; Neuroendocrine cancer; Overall survival; Recurrence; Secondary liver tumours; Transplant benefit.