Hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after liver transplant: An Australian single-centre study

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with and without recurrence after liver transplantation, n (%)

Variable	Without recurrence (n = 109)	With recurrence (n = 10)	P value
Age at transplant (years)	56.8	55.8	0.68
Female	15 (14)	2 (20)	0.05
Male	94 (86)	8 (80)	0.58
Aetiology of liver disease
HCV	45 (41)	5 (50)	0.46
Alcohol	21 (19)	1 (10)	0.87
Alcohol +HCV	20 (18)	0 (0)	0.005
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease	13 (12)	1 (10)	0.63
Hepatitis B virus	4 (4)	3 (30)	0.001
Primary sclerosing cholangitis	2(2)	0 (0)	0.74
Other	4 (4)	0 (0)	0.52
Child Pugh
A	32 (30)	1 (10)	0.78
B	40 (37)	6 (60)	0.25
C	37 (34)	3 (30)	0.94
Model for End-stage liver disease	15 ± 7.0	16 ± 7.4	0.64
Within Milan Criteria	102 (94)	9 (90)	0.81
Within University of California and San Francisco	105 (96)	10 (100)	0.82
Within Metroticket 2.0
Pre-transplant	101 (92)	9 (90)	0.55
Post-transplant	75 (68)	6 (60)	0.57
Comorbidities
Obesity	35 (32)	2 (20)	0.34
Overweight	43 (40)	6 (60)	0.17
Overweight or obese	78 (71)	8 (80)	0.60
Morphology at time of transplant
Number of nodules
1	85 (78)	7 (70)	0.74
2-3	22 (20)	3 (30)	0.21
> 3	2 (2)	0 (0)	0.78
Serum markers pre-transplant
AFP at time of transplant (ng/mL)	13.7 ± 30	41 ± 50	0.01
Highest pre-op AFP (ng/mL)	30.3 ± 64	41 ± 47	0.59
neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio at time of transplant	4.8 ± 13	2.9 ± 1.3	0.64
Biopsy pre-transplant performed	37 (34)	5 (50)	0.32
HCC treatment pre-transplant
Transarterial chemoembolization	25 (23)	3 (30)	0.56
Ablative techniques	19 (17)	3 (30)	0.78
Surgery	0	0 (0)	0.25
Radiology (selective internal radiation therapy/choline kinase)	9 (8)	0 (0)	0.65
Combined	24 (22)	4 (40)	0.10
Waiting time (days)	166 ± 180	194 ± 153	0.63
Explant histopathology findings
Number of viable nodules
0	8 (8)	1 (10)	0.14
1	45 (43)	3 (30)	0.24
2-3	37 (35)	2 (20)	0.46
> 3	16 (15)	4 (40)	0.001
Vascular invasion	25 (23)	4 (40)	0.003
Type of vascular invasion
Microvascular	25 (23)	3 (30)	0.001
Macrovascular	0 (0)	1 (10)	0.001
Viable HCC on explant	101 (92)	9 (90)	0.55
Histology grading
Well differentiated	44 (40)	1 (10)	0.001
Moderately differentiated	48 (44)	6 (60)	0.46
Poor differentiated	3 (3)	1 (10)	0.03

Quantitative data were expressed as mean ± SD. P values for the comparison between groups. Maximum diameter of viable tumour in mm. AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; HCV: hepatitis C virus; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.