©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2018; 24(31): 3469-3471
Published online Aug 21, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i31.3469
Published online Aug 21, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i31.3469
Locoregional therapy response in patients with hepatocellular cancer waiting for liver transplantation: Only selection or biological effect?
Quirino Lai, Gianluca Mennini, Department of General Surgery and Organ Transplantation, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy
Michele Di Martino, Pierleone Lucatelli, Department of Radiology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome 00161, Italy
Author contributions: Lai Q, Di Martino M, Lucatelli P and Mennini G conceived the study and drafted the manuscript; both authors approved the final version of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Correspondence to: Quirino Lai, MD, PhD, Academic Fellow, Academic Research, Doctor, Senior Lecturer, Department of General Surgery and Organ Transplantation, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, Rome 00161, Italy. lai.quirino@libero.it
Telephone: +39-34-93020126 Fax: +39-6-499701
Received: May 18, 2018
Peer-review started: May 19, 2018
First decision: May 29, 2018
Revised: June 29, 2018
Accepted: July 16, 2018
Article in press: July 16, 2018
Published online: August 21, 2018
Processing time: 91 Days and 2.2 Hours
Peer-review started: May 19, 2018
First decision: May 29, 2018
Revised: June 29, 2018
Accepted: July 16, 2018
Article in press: July 16, 2018
Published online: August 21, 2018
Processing time: 91 Days and 2.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: The role of locoregional treatments in the setting of hepatocellular cancer and liver transplantation is controversial. On one side, neoadjuvant approaches should consent a selection of tumor aggressiveness. On the other side, a real survival improvement thanks to the tumor ablation should be achieved. Recent evidences report an effective beneficial role of locoregional strategies in terms of survival and recurrence. However, several biases must be taken into account in these studies, due to the heterogeneous characteristics of treated vs untreated subjects. Further studies are need with the intent to clarify this important topic.