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Two of the kidney programs are licensed to perform pediatric kidney transplants. [...]there are 2 pancreas transplant programs established, and 1 cardiac and lung transplant program. There are some provisions for donation after circulatory death since 2023 but unfortunately no DCD organs have been transplanted to date as well as no clear guidelines regarding donor warm ischemia time have been defined. [...]no provisions exist regarding directed or non-directed altruistic donation: all policies that, if implemented, will definitely increase the pool of available organs [4]. The number of utilized donors during the same period showed similar trajectory with the actual donors (data are not shown), however the IRODAT data are not granular enough to provide more insights about the reasons for discarding organs, that is a known phenomenon observed in many countries [8]. [...]there was a gradual increase in the number of solid organ transplants during the same period (2019–2024), with 178 kidney, 33 liver and 15 heart, 0 lung and 0 pancreas transplants in 2019 to 277 kidney, 55 liver, 24 heart and 12 lung and 2 pancreas transplants in 2024. Transplant networks remain healthcare’s proverbial canary in the mine: it takes a robust healthcare system and an empathetic, altruistic society for transplantation to be operational and thrive; and vice versa, transplantation as an organism will suffer if a healthcare system is under strain or if a socioeconomical system is in decline, as it has been shown in our recent past. [...]recently, Greece lacked the vision to invest on comprehensive organ donation and transplantation services, the benefit of which is certainly indisputable.

BackgroundSeveral investigators have advocated for extending the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) resection criteria to select patients with BCLC-B and even BCLC-C hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The objective of the current study was to define the outcomes and recurrence patterns after resection within and beyond the current resection criteria.Patients and MethodsPatients who underwent resection for HCC within (i.e., BCLC 0/A) and beyond (i.e. BCLC B/C) the current resection criteria between 2005 and 2017 were identified from an international multi-institutional database. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), as well as patterns of recurrence of patients undergoing HCC resection within and beyond the BCLC guidelines were examined.ResultsAmong 756 patients, 602 (79.6%) patients were BCLC 0/A and 154 (20.4%) were BCLC B/C. Recurrences were mostly intrahepatic (within BCLC: 74.3% versus beyond BCLC: 70.8%, p = 0.80), with BCLC B/C patients more often having multiple tumors at relapse (69.6% versus 49.4%, p = 0.001) and higher rates of early (< 2 years) recurrence (88.0% versus 75.5%, p = 0.011). During the first postoperative year, annual recurrence was 38.3% and 21.3% among BCLC B/C and BCLC 0/A patients, respectively; 5-year OS among BCLC 0/A and BCLC B/C patients was 76.9% versus 51.6% (p = 0.003). On multivariable analysis, only a-fetoprotein (AFP) > 400 ng/mL (HR = 1.84, 95% CI 1.07–3.15) and R1 resection (HR = 2.36, 95% CI 1.32–4.23) were associated with higher risk of recurrence among BCLC B/C patients.ConclusionsSurgery can provide acceptable outcomes among select patients with BCLC B/C HCC. The data emphasize the need to further refine the BCLC treatment algorithm as well as highlight the need for surveillance protocols with a particular focus on the liver, especially for patients undergoing resection outside the BCLC criteria.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of one of the most frequent liver cancers and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Current treatment options such as surgery, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, liver transplantation, and radiofrequency ablation will benefit only a very small percentage of patients. Immunotherapy is a novel treatment approach representing an effective and promising option against several types of cancer. The aim of our study is to present the currently ongoing clinical trials and to evaluate the efficacy of immunotherapy in HCC. In this paper, we demonstrate that combination of different immunotherapies or immunotherapy with other modalities results in better overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) compared to single immunotherapy agent. Another objective of this paper is to demonstrate and highlight the importance of tumor microenvironment as a predictive and prognostic marker and its clinical implications in immunotherapy response.

IntroductionThe objective of the current study was to comprehensively assess the change of practice in hepatobiliary surgery by determining the rates and the trends of textbook outcomes (TO) among patients undergoing surgery for primary liver cancer over time.MethodsPatients undergoing curative-intent resection for primary liver malignancies, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) between 2005 and 2017 were analyzed using a large, international multi-institutional dataset. Rates of TO were assessed over time. Factors associated with achieving a TO and the impact of TO on long-term survival were examined.ResultsAmong 1829 patients, 944 (51.6%) and 885 (48.4%) individuals underwent curative-intent resection for HCC and ICC, respectively. Over time, patients were older, more frequently had ASA class > 2, albumin-bilirubin grade 2/3, major vascular invasion and more frequently underwent major liver resection (all p < 0.05). Overall, a total of 1126 (62.0%) patients achieved a TO. No increasing trends in TO rates were noted over the years (ptrend = 0.90). In addition, there was no increasing trend in the TO rates among patients undergoing either major (ptrend = 0.39) or minor liver resection (ptrend = 0.63) over the study period. Achieving a TO was independently associated with 26% and 37% decreased hazards of death among ICC (HR 0.74, 95%CI 0.56–0.97) and HCC patients (HR 0.63, 95%CI 0.46–0.85), respectively.ConclusionApproximately 6 in 10 patients undergoing surgery for primary liver tumors achieved a TO. While TO rates did not increase over time, TO was associated with better long-term outcomes following liver resection for both HCC and ICC.

Background Although the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system has been largely adopted in clinical practice, recent studies have questioned the prognostic stratification of this classification schema, as well as the proposed treatment allocation of patients with a single large tumor. Methods Patients who underwent curative-intent hepatectomy for histologically proven hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) between 1998 and 2017 were identified using an international multi-institutional database. Overall survival (OS) among patients with BCLC stage 0, A, and B was examined. Patients with a single large tumor were classified as BCLC stage A1 and were independently assessed. Results Among 814 patients, 68 (8.4%) were BCLC-0, 310 (38.1%) were BCLC-A, 279 (34.3%) were BCLC-A1, and 157 (19.3%) were BCLC-B. Five-year OS among patients with BCLC stage 0, A, A1, and B HCC was 86.2%, 69.0%, 56.9%, and 49.9%, respectively ( p  < 0.001). Among patients with very early- and early-stage HCC (BCLC 0, A, and A1), patients with BCLC stage A1 had the worst OS ( p  = 0.0016). No difference in survival was noted among patients undergoing surgery for BCLC stage A1 and B HCC (5-year OS: 56.9% vs. 49.9%; p  = 0.259) even after adjusting for competing factors (hazard ratio 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.54–1.28; p  = 0.40). Conclusion Prognosis following liver resection among patients with BCLC-A1 HCC was similar to patients presenting with BCLC-B tumors. Surgery provided acceptable long-term outcomes among select patients with BCLC-B HCC. Designation into BCLC stage B should not be considered an a priori contraindication to surgery.

Introduction Colorectal liver metastases develop in 50% of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Surgical resection for colorectal liver metastasis typically involves either anatomical resection (AR) or parenchymal-sparing hepatectomy (PSH). The objective of the current study was to analyze data on parenchymal versus non-parenchymal-sparing hepatic resections for CLM. Methods A systematic review of the literature regarding parenchymal-sparing hepatectomy was performed. MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane, and EMBASE databases were searched for publications containing the following medical subject headings (MeSH): “Colorectal Neoplasms,” “Neoplasm Metastasis,” “Liver Neoplasms” and “Hepatectomy”. Besides, the following keywords were used to complete the literature search: “Hepatectomy,” “liver resection,” “hepatic resection,” “anatomic/anatomical,” “nonanatomic/ nonanatomical,” “major,” “minor,” “limited,” “wedge,” “CRLM/CLM,” and “colorectal liver metastasis.” Data was reviewed, aggregated, and analyzed. Results Two thousand five hundred five patients included in 12 studies who underwent either PSH ( n  = 1087 patients) or AR ( n  = 1418 patients) were identified. Most patients had a primary tumor that originated in the colon (PSH 52.2–74.4% vs. AR 53.9–74.3%) ( P  = 0.289). The majority of studies included a large subset of patients with only a solitary tumor with a reported median tumor number of 1–2 regardless of whether the patient underwent PSH or AR. Median EBL was no different among patients undergoing PSH (100–896 mL) versus AR (200–1489 mL) for CLM ( P  = 0.248). There was no difference in median length-of-stay following PSH (6–17 days) versus AR (7–15 days) ( P  = 0.747). While there was considerable inter-study variability regarding margin status, there was no difference in the incidence of R0 resection among patients undergoing PSH (66.7–100%) versus AR (71.6–98.6%) ( P  = 0.58). When assessing overall survival, there was no difference whether resection of CLM was performed with PSH (5 years OS: mean 44.7%, range 29–62%) or AR (5 years OS: mean 44.6%, range 27–64%) ( P  = 0.97). Conclusion PSH had a comparable safety and efficacy profile compared with AR and did not compromise oncologic outcomes. PSH should be considered an appropriate surgical approach to treatment for patients with CLM that facilitates preservation of hepatic parenchyma.

Hilar cholangiocarcinoma (hCCA) is a rare and aggressive malignancy with R0 resection being currently the only option for long-term survival. With the improvement in the outcomes of liver transplantation (LT), the indications for LT have expanded to include other malignant tumors, such as hCCA. The aim of the present analysis is to demonstrate and critically evaluate the outcomes of LT compared to resection with curative intent in patients with hCCA. We systematically searched the literature for articles published up to May 2018. The following algorithm was applied ((hilar cholangiocarcinoma) OR (perihilar cholangiocarcinoma) OR klatskin$ OR (bile duct neoplasm) OR cholangiocarcinoma) AND (transplant$ OR graft$). Neoadjuvant treatment with chemotherapy and radiation therapy was far more common in the LT group, with very few patients having received preoperative therapy in the resection group (p = 0.0005). Moreover, length of hospital stay was shorter after LT than after resection (p<0.00001). In contrast, no difference was found between the two treatment methods concerning postoperative mortality (p = 0.57). There was a trend towards longer overall survival after LT in comparison with resection. This was not obvious in the first year postoperatively, however, the advantage of LT over resection became obvious at 3 years after the operation (p = 0.02). In non-disseminated unresectable tumors, LT seems to have a non-inferior survival. In the same patients, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and/or strict selection criteria may contribute to superior survival outcomes compared to curative-intent resection. Due to the scarcity of level 1 evidence, it remains unclear whether LT should be increasingly considered for technically resectable early stage hCCA.

Vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) is a field under research and has emerged as an alternative option for the repair of severe disfiguring defects that result from severe tissue loss in a selected group of patients. Lifelong immunosuppressive therapy, immunosuppression associated complications, and the effects of the host immune response in the graft are major concerns in this type of quality-of-life transplant. The initial management of extensive soft tissue injury can lead to the development of anti-HLA antibodies through injury-related factors, transfusion and cadaveric grafting. The role of antibody-mediated rejection, donor-specific antibody (DSA) formation and graft rejection in the context of VCA still remain poorly understood. The most common antigenic target of preexisting alloantibodies are MHC mismatches, though recognition of ABO incompatible antigens, minor histocompatibility complexes and endothelial cells has also been shown to contribute to rejection. Mechanistically, alloantibody-mediated tissue damage occurs primarily through complement fixation as well as through antibody-dependent cellular toxicity. If DSA exist, activation of complement and coagulation cascades can result in vascular thrombosis and infarction and thus rejection and graft loss. Both preexisting DSA but especially de-novo DSA are currently considered as main contributors to late allograft injury and graft failure. Desensitization protocols are currently being developed for VCA, mainly including removal of alloantibodies whereas treatment of established antibody-mediated rejection is achieved through high dose intravenous immunoglobulins. The long-term efficacy of such therapies in sensitized VCA recipients is currently unknown. The current evidence base for sensitizing events and outcomes in reconstructive transplantation is limited. However, current data show that VCA transplantation has been performed in the setting of HLA-sensitization.