Research progress and prospect of surgical treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in the era of liver transplantation / 国际外科学杂志

ABSTRACT

The incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma has been increasing worldwide in recent years. Hepatectomy is the first choice for surgical treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. However, due to high tumor invasion, early lymph node metastasis and other factors, only less than 30% of cases are resectable, and the overall prognosis of patients is very poor. Theoretically, liver transplantation can not only remove the tumor, but also replace the damaged liver. Therefore, many scholars have proposed liver transplantation for the treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in order to obtain better results. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma was once listed as a contraindication of liver transplantation due to limited cases, tumor recurrence, and shortage of donors. However, with the optimization of recipient screening criteria and the development of neoadjuvant therapy, part of patients can also benefit from it, making liver transplantation a potential therapeutic strategy. Based on the literature review and the author′s experience, this article introduced the current situation of surgical treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, the comparison between hepatectomy and liver transplantation, the latest progress of liver transplantation treatment and the future challenges and solutions.