Lymphovascular invasion on explant is associated with presenting tumor characteristics and not direct acting antiviral utilization in hepatitis C candidates undergoing liver transplantation
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Coll Med PhoenixIssue Date
2019Keywords
liver transplantationhepatocellular carcinoma
lymphovascular invasion
hepatitis C virus infection
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TERMEDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE LTDCitation
Muna-Aguon, P., Ramanathan, M., Choi, M., Pedersen, M., & Seetharam, A. Lymphovascular invasion on explant is associated with presenting tumor characteristics and not direct acting antiviral utilization in hepatitis C candidates undergoing liver transplantation. Clinical and Experimental Hepatology, 5(1).Rights
© 2019 Clinical and Experimental Hepatology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Aim of the study: Utilization of direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy in candidates with well-compensated hepatitis C virus (HCV) cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accruing end stage liver disease (MELD) exception points is highly variable among transplant centers based on center location, local organ procurement dynamics, HCV(+) organ availability, and patient preference. The association between DAA utilization prior to transplant and incidence of lymphovascular invasion on explant is unknown. Material and methods: Retrospective evaluation from 2013-2017 of patients on a liver transplant (LT) waitlist with HCV-related cirrhosis, MELD-Na < 15, and HCC (within T2/Milan criteria). The cohort was divided into the pre-LT DAA treated group and untreated group with clinical/viral demographics collected. Tumor presenting characteristics, locoregional treatments, wait time to LT, dropout rates and explant pathology were compared. Results: DAAs were used in 44 patients prior to LT (SVR12 of 37/44 [84%]) and 19 left untreated with LT performed in 81% (51/63) of the waitlisted cohort. No significant differences were found between groups with regards to clinical/viral demographics, local-regional therapy (LRT) sessions, or frequency of lymphovascular invasion on explant. The untreated cohort had a higher rate of dropout (6.3% vs. 3.2%) (p = 0.041). On subgroup analysis of 51 subjects undergoing LT, AFP > 250 ng/ml (p = 0.003) and multifocal HCC (> 1 lesion) (p = 0.006) were associated with lymphovascular invasion on explant while DAA therapy was not (p = 0.578). Conclusions: DAA therapy for waitlist active HCV candidates accruing MELD exception points has no deleterious effects on bridging LRT, nor is it associated with increased frequency of lymphovascular invasion on explant. The latter appears driven by tumor related characteristics (AFP and number of lesions) irrespective of DAA utilization prior to LT.Note
Open access journalISSN
2392-1099EISSN
2449-8238Version
Final published versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.5114/ceh.2019.88105
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2019 Clinical and Experimental Hepatology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).