Liver transplantation in Asia: past, present and future

With the technical advances and improvements in perioperative management and immunosuppressants, liver transplantation is the standard treatment for patients with end-stage liver diseases. In Asia, a shortage of deceased donor liver grafts is the universal problem to be faced with in all transplant centres. Many surgical innovations are then driven to counteract this problem. This review focuses on 3 issues that denote the development of liver transplantation in Asian countries. These include living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), split liver transplantation (SLT) and liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Minimal graft weight, types of liver graft to donate and the inclusion of the middle hepatic vein with the graft are the main issues to be established in LDLT. The rapid growth and wide dissemination of LDLT has certainly alleviated the supply-and-demand problem of liver grafts in Asia. SLT is another attractive approach. Technical expertise, donor selection and graft allocation are the main determinants for its success. Liver transplantation plays a key role in the management of HCC in Asia. LDLT would be the main strategy in this aspect. The issue of extending the selection criteria for HCC patients for LDLT is still controversial. On the whole, future developments to increase the donor pool for the expanding recipient need in Asia would involve transplantation from non-heart beating donor and ABO incompatible transplantation.

Current treatment strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma

With the current practice of surveillance programs in high-risk patients, early stage hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] is commonly diagnosed. This poses great challenge to clinicians, in terms of prognostic estimation, patient stratification to various treatment modalities and patient management during long-term follow-up. This review focuses on the current trends in the management of HCC, with special attention to tumor staging, treatment algorithm, and outcome of various treatment modalities. According to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases [AASLD] practice guideline, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer [BCLC] staging system has fulfilled the criteria that HCC patients can be stratified into different prognostic subgroups, to which optimal treatments can be offered. Under this management scheme, curative treatments [hepatic resection, liver transplantation, and percutaneous ablation] would be reserved to the subgroup of patients with relatively good prognosis. For patients with advanced malignancy localized to the liver, local ablation or transarterial chemoembolization [TACE] may offer effective symptomatic palliation, and prolongation of patients' survival. For patients with distant metastases, no effective therapy can be offered, and symptomatic palliative care is the best option. Until now, favorable survival outcomes have been reported following hepatic resection, liver transplantation, and local ablation for HCC. Although the therapeutic effect of TACE is less pronounced than curative treatments, randomized controlled studies have proven its survival benefit for HCC patients. A comprehensive treatment algorithm involving these treatment modalities is mandatory to ensure optimal care of patients with HCC