Table 2.
Comparison of baseline characteristics of patients with or without hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after receiving a liver transplant at the University Medical Center Mainz between 1998 and 2017 (n = 304).
| Patients |
p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Without recurrence (n = 253) | With recurrence (n = 51) | ||
| Alive | 151 (60%) | 11 (22%) | <0.001 |
| Time to last follow-up/death (years) | 5.1 (1.8–10.2) | 3.5 (1.4–6.3) | 0.096 |
| Recurrence-free survival (years) | 5.1 (1.8–10.2) | 1.8 (0.7–3.7) | <0.001 |
| Time on the waiting list (days) | 201.0 (114.0–358.0) | 199.0 (55.0–314.0) | 0.132 |
| Time from HCC diagnosis until LT (days)a | 299.5 (198.5–472.5) | 303.0 (198.0–412.0) | 0.994 |
| DRI | 1.68 (1.40–2.00) | 1.66 (1.35–2.05) | 0.796 |
| Age | 59.9 (55.0–65.3) | 59.9 (53.7–64.1) | 0.759 |
| Male gender | 201 (79%) | 34 (67%) | 0.047 |
| LT before 16 December 2006 (pre-MELD era) | 89 (35%) | 29 (57%) | 0.004 |
| Cold ischaemia time (minutes) | 570.0 (495.0–684.0) | 556.0 (452.0–671.0) | 0.447 |
| Outside Milan criteria (explant) | 59 (23%) | 29 (57%) | <0.001 |
| Outside Milan but inside UCSF criteria (explant) | 53 (22%) | 25 (49%) | <0.001 |
| Outside Milan but inside up-to-seven criteria (explant) | 32 (13%) | 23 (45%) | <0.001 |
| T stage (explant)b | |||
| T0c | 42 (17%) | 6 (12%) | <0.001 |
| T1 | 101 (40%) | 10 (20%) | |
| T2 | 96 (38%) | 20 (39%) | |
| T3 | 13 (5%) | 14 (27%) | |
| T4 | 1 (0%) | 1 (2%) | |
| Grading | |||
| G1 | 46 (18%) | 7 (14%) | 0.015 |
| G2 | 144 (57%) | 28 (55%) | |
| G3 | 35 (14%) | 15 (29%) | |
| Gx | 28 (11%) | 1 (2%) | |
| Number of tumour nodules | |||
| 0 | 42 (17%) | 5 (10%) | < 0.001 |
| 1 | 115 (45%) | 12 (24%) | |
| 2 | 35 (14%) | 4 (8%) | |
| 3 | 20 (8%) | 5 (10%) | |
| multifocal | 41 (16%) | 25 (49%) | |
| Nodule size > 5 cm | 27 (11%) | 11 (22%) | 0.032 |
| Microvascular invasion | 27 (11%) | 16 (31%) | <0.001 |
| AFP (ng/mL) before LT | 8.8 (5.0–19.0) | 7.9 (3.7–37.0) | 0.834 |
| AFP (ng/mL) before TACE | 13.3 (5.8–59.7) | 24.0 (4.8–269.0) | 0.641 |
| AFP before LT > 400 ng/mL | 6 (2%) | 6 (12%) | 0.002 |
| Absence of vital tumour tissue in the explant | 43 (17%) | 5 (10%) | 0.199 |
| Pre-treatment | |||
| With TACE | 185 (73%) | 42 (82%) | 0.167 |
| With resection | 19 (8%) | 8 (16%) | 0.061 |
| Other than resection or TACE | 60 (24%) | 8 (16%) | 0.209 |
| Number of TACE | |||
| 0 | 67 (26%) | 9 (18%) | 0.559 |
| 1–3 | 68 (27%) | 14 (27%) | |
| 4–6 | 76 (30%) | 19 (35%) | |
| 7 or more | 42 (17%) | 9 (20%) | |
| Modality of pre-LT HCC diagnosis | |||
| Incidentaloma | 33 (13%) | 1 (2%) | 0.037 |
| Radiological evidence | 51 (20%) | 8 (16%) | |
| Histology | 169 (67%) | 42 (82%) | |
| Histological confirmation by liver biopsy | 150 (59%) | 34 (67%) | 0.325 |
| Aetiology | |||
| Alcohol | 121 (48%) | 20 (39%) | 0.261 |
| Hepatitis B | 41 (16%) | 10 (20%) | 0.553 |
| Hepatitis B+D | 11 (4%) | 2 (4%) | 0.891 |
| Hepatitis C | 90 (36%) | 19 (37%) | 0.819 |
| Child–Pugh class | |||
| Child A | 105 (42%) | 26 (54%) | 0.201 |
| Child B | 61 (25%) | 12 (25%) | |
| Child C | 82 (33%) | 10 (21%) | |
| MELD score | 12.0 (9.0–18.0) | 9.0 (7.0–13.1) | 0.002 |
Continuous variables are expressed as median with interquartile ranges in brackets, categorical variables as n and frequencies (%). p-values < 0.05 are considered to be statistically significant and are highlighted in bold.
AFP: alpha-fetoprotein; DRI: donor risk index; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; LT: liver transplantation; MELD: model for end-stage liver disease; TACE: transarterial chemoembolization; UCSF: [University of California San Francisco].
Excluding patients with incidentalomas.
Based on the TNM classification of malignant tumours as defined by the Union for International Cancer Control.
No vital tumour tissue present in the explant.