The Outcomes of Systemic Treatment in Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinomas Following Liver Transplants.

Abstract

Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrences following liver transplant (LT) is challenging. Most clinical trials of systemic therapies for advanced HCC excluded patients with any history of organ transplant. We aimed to assess the outcomes in using various systemic therapies in patients with post-LT recurrence. Consecutive patients with HCC and recurrences following LT at a large tertiary centre from 2005 to 2018 were reviewed. Overall survival (OS), response rates and adverse events (AEs) were analysed. Forty-three consecutive patients with a recurrence of HCC following LT were identified from 2005 to 2018. Median OS from diagnosis of recurrence was 17months (CI 11.3, 22.7). Early recurrence within 12months of transplant was associated with a significantly worse median survival of 10months (CI 8.5, 11.4) compared to 26months (CI 18.8, 33.2) when recurrences occurred after 12months from transplant (p < 0.001) with a hazard ratio of 0.104 (log-rank test, p < 0.001). A total of 41 patients had received systemic therapies and 79.1% of them were on sorafenib as the first-line treatment. Among these patients treated with sorafenib, median OS from recurrence was 14months (CI 7.3, 20.7). Hand-foot syndrome (34.7%) was most common among AEs followed by diarrhoea (26.7%). Overall, AEs led to dose interruptions in 8.8% of patients. Notably, 47.1% of patients received subsequent lines of systemic therapies after sorafenib. Early recurrence within 1year from transplant was the most significant risk factor. Treatment efficacy and adverse events and tolerability of sorafenib were comparable with those in the setting of advanced HCC without transplant.