Validation of Metroticket Score in the Preoperative Period of Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth leading cause of cancer in the world, and liver transplant (LT) is a good therapeutic option in selected cases because it treats the neoplasm and the underlying disease. Recurrence after LT is usually aggressive and has low survival; thus, an adequate selection of recipients is ideal. The new models aim to assess the individual risk of HCC recurrence in patients undergoing LT and to improve post-LT survival. In this study, our aim was to assess the applicability of the "Metroticket" score, correlating it with our rates of recurrence and survival after LT. Overall survival at 5 years in our study differed from that in Metroticket 2.0 because that study did not consider only recurrence as the cause of death; our study evaluated only patients with recurrence, so we were able to validate the score as a predictor of greater tumor aggressiveness after LT.