Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Apr 8, 2015; 7(4): 649-661
Published online Apr 8, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i4.649
Strategies to improve outcome of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving a liver transplantation
Marta Guerrero-Misas, Manuel Rodríguez-Perálvarez, Manuel De la Mata
Marta Guerrero-Misas, Manuel Rodríguez-Perálvarez, Manuel De la Mata, Department of Hepatology and Liver Transplantation, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Maimónides Institute of Biomedical Research of Córdoba, CIBERehd, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the manuscript; Guerrero-Misas M and Rodríguez-Perálvarez M performed research and wrote the paper; De la Mata M designed research and contributed new reagents.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors of the present manuscript do not have any conflict of interest to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Manuel De la Mata, MD, PhD, Head, Department of Hepatology and Liver Transplantation, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Maimónides Institute of Biomedical Research of Córdoba, CIBERehd, Avda/ Menéndez Pidal s/n, 14004 Córdoba, Spain. mdelamatagarcia@gmail.com
Telephone: +34-957-010450 Fax: +34-957-736014
Received: August 25, 2014
Peer-review started: August 25, 2014
First decision: November 27, 2014
Revised: December 15, 2014
Accepted: January 15, 2015
Article in press: January 19, 2015
Published online: April 8, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: Liver transplantation is the only therapeutic option which allows to treat both, the hepatocellular carcinoma and the underlying liver disease. However, tumour recurrence rates are 15%-20% with a very poor prognosis. Strategies to minimize tumour recurrence and thus to improve outcome are focused in a careful selection of candidates for liver transplantation, an optimized management within waiting list and a tailored immunosuppression. The available scientific evidence supporting these strategies is reviewed, and future directions are provided for novel research approaches, which may contribute to the final target: to cure more patients with hepatocellular carcinoma with an improved long term outcome.