The results of liver transplantation with adjuvant chemotherapy for hepatobiliary surgery

This is an update of a pilot trial in which doxorubicin 10 mg/m² was used pre-, intra-, and postoperatively as adjuvant chemotherapy during liver transplant for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. The patients had advanced disease, with 17 of 20 having tumors that were multifocal, larger than 5 cm diameter unifocal, or tumors with vascular invasion. Individual followup is now 35–76 months, with a median observation time of 46 months. Eleven of the patients are alive (55%), 2 with recurrences (45% tumor free). Six patients have died from recurrent tumor and 3 from recurrent hepatitis B without evidence of malignancy. Of the eight patients with recurrent tumor, only 1 presented in the grafted liver.