Application of liver grafts from HBsAg positive donors in liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma beyond UCSF Criteria / 中华器官移植杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the outcomes of liver transplant recipients who received liver grafts from HBsAg positive donors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma beyond UCSF (University of California,San Francisco) Criteria.Method The medical records of patients who underwent HBsAg-positive donor liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma beyond UCSF Criteria from October 2008 to December 2012 at our hospital were analyzed retrospectively,including the existence status of HBV,graft function,tumor recurrence,and the survival after transplantation.Result A total of 20 patients were enrolled in the study.One patient lost follow-up while the remaining 19 patients had complete follow-up data.All the patients were followed up until June 2013,with a median follow-up duration of 12 months (range 2-57 months).One patient died from postoperative abdominal bleeding and multiple organ failure at post-transplantative day 21.Five patients survived up to now,including 4 cases with disease-free survival,who has been surviving for 57,35,26 and 12 months respectively.The remaining all 14 patients died from tumor recurrence at different time points after transplantation.Entecavir was used alone in 19 patients and Entecavir combined with Adefovir dipivoxilalone were used as anti-HBV therapy in the recipients.At posttransplant day 45,all the recipients were positive for serum HBsAg and negative for serum HBVDNA,and the liver enzymatic criteria,coagulation criteria and the serum bilirubin restored to normal levels or within twice the upper limit of normal levels.Throughout the follow-up period,recipients were all positive for serum HBsAg,but there was no recurrence of hepatitis B.The 1-,2-,3-and 4-year cumulative survival rate was 48.0％,35.0％,18.7％ and 18.7％ respectively.Conclusion The HBsAg positive liver may be used as a donor in liver transplantation and the graft probably works well after the operation.Liver transplantation may prolong the survival and improve the quality of life,even achieve long-term disease-free survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma beyond UCSF Criteria.The use of nucleotide analogue only,instead of combination with hepatitis B immune globulin,can also bring HBV well under control in liver transplant recipients with HBsAg positive donors.