Efficacy of Tumor Markers After Liver Transplantation In Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Tae Yun Lee, Ho Joong Choi, Joseph Ahn, Tae Ho Hong, Young Kyoung You

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2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: The most reliable treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is liver transplantation (LT). Recurrence of HCC after LT is the most serious problem; therefore, early diagnosis of recurrent HCC is very important. This study investigated the efficacy of tumor markers in patients with LT for HCC. Methods and Materials: From January 2008 to December 2016, 242 patients underwent LT for HCC. The operation of LT and immunosuppressive methods were the same as those of general LT patients. All patients were followed up with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and protein induced by vitamin K absence (PIVKA)-II. The 41 patients (16.9%) recurred during follow-up period. Results: The factors associated with recurrence were tumor markers (AFP, PIVKA-II), maximum tumor diameter, number, microvascular invasion, Milan criteria, and Edmondson–Steiner grade. In 41 patients with recurrent HCC, 14 patients (34.15%) were both elevated in 2 markers and 18 patients (43.9%) were elevated in 1 tumor marker. There was no relationship between tumor marker and recurrent site. The survival rate of patients with recurrence in 1, 3, and 5 years were 78.6%, 34.7%, and 23.7%, respectively. Curability of treatment and elevation of tumor marker before treatment were correlated with patient survival after recurrence. When the receiver operating characteristic curve was used, the area under the curve value using the sum of AFP and PIVKA-II before LT was 0.827. Conclusions: In this study, tumor markers (AFP, PIVKA-II) for HCC were correlated with post-transplant recurrence factors and may be a useful tool for early diagnosis and to predict the prognosis after recurrence.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)461-467
Number of pages7
JournalTransplantation Proceedings
Volume54
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2022

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© 2022 Elsevier Inc.

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