Optimal Timing of Administration of Direct-acting Antivirals for Patients With Hepatitis C-associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Liver Transplantation

Optimal treatment strategy and prognostic analysis of salvage liver transplantation for patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after hepatectomy

AIM

We aimed to investigate the prognostic factors for salvage liver transplant in patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after hepatectomy.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis included 53 patients who underwent salvage living-donor liver transplantation between January 2007 and January 2018. There were 24 and 29 patients in the early (recurrence ≤24 months after primary liver resection) and the late recurrence groups, respectively.

RESULTS

In the multivariate Cox regression model, pre-liver transplant downstaging therapy, early recurrence (ER) after primary liver resection , and recurrence-to-liver-transplant ≥12 months were independent risks to predict recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after salvage living-donor liver transplantation. Compared with the late recurrence group, the ER group showed lower disease-free survival rates (p < 0.001); however, the overall survival rates did not differ between the two groups (p = 0.355). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival rates were 83.3%, 70.6%, and 66.2%, and 96.0%, 91.6%, and 91.6% in the early and late recurrence groups, respectively. When stratified by recurrence-to-liver transplant time and pre-liver transplant downstaging therapy in the ER group, disease-free survival and overall survival rates were significantly different.

CONCLUSION

ER after primary liver resection with advanced tumor status and a longer period of recurrence-to-liver-transplant (≥12 months) have a negative impact on salvage liver transplant. Our findings provide novel recommendations for treatment strategies and eligibility for salvage liver transplant candidates.

Early post-liver transplant use of direct-acting antivirals in naive and NS5A inhibitor-experienced HCV patients

Direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAA) are safe and effective in the HCV population. However, in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and/or active hepatocellular carcinoma or relapse to NS5A inhibitors, response rates are lower and DAA therapy must be postponed until after liver transplant in an era of organ shortage and suboptimal donors. We aimed to assess the prevalence of patients still HCV infected at time of transplantation over the last 3 years in our Center and describe the safety and efficacy of DAA therapy started as soon as possible after surgery. We enrolled all HCV viraemic patients transplanted in our Centre from January 2019 to March 2022. The follow-up was closed in July 2022. Among 490 liver transplants, 49 (10%) patients were still HCV viraemic at operation, 43 naive to DAA and 6 were NS5A-experienced. Median donor age was 64 years; donor risk index was 1.8. In naive patients, sofosbuvir/velpatasvir was started after a median time of 1 day from surgery, while in NS5A-experienced sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir after 14.5 days (p = .001). Response rate was 98%. 1 NS5A-experienced patient experienced acute cholestatic hepatitis which promptly reverted after permanent DAA discontinuation. Hence, very early post-liver transplant HCV eradication was safe and effective thanks to a close teamwork which involved anaesthesiologists, transplant surgeons and hepatologists.

HCV Interplay With Mir34a: Implications in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Since its identification, HCV has been considered one of the main causes of hepatitis and liver cancer. Currently, the molecular mechanisms of HCC development induced by HCV infection have not been sufficiently clarified. The recent discovery of novel treatments that inhibit HCV replication gave rise to new questions concerning HCC mechanisms. In particular, the HCV eradication mediated by new direct-acting antiviral (DAAs) drugs does not exclude the possibility of de novo HCC development; this finding opened more questions on the interplay between liver cells and the virus. Different groups have investigated the pathways leading to cancer recurrence in patients treated with DAAs. For this reason, we tried to gain molecular insights into the changes induced by HCV infection in the target liver cells. In particular, we observed an increase in microRNA34a (miR34a) expression following HCV infection of HCC cell line Huh7.5. In addition, Huh7.5 treated with extracellular vesicles (EVs) from the previously HCV-infected Huh7.5 underwent apoptosis. Since miR34 expression was increased in Huh7.5 EVs, we hypothesized a paracrine mechanism of viral infection mediated by miR34a cargo of EVs. The balance between viral infection and cell transformation may raise some questions on the possible use of antiviral drugs in association with antineoplastic treatment.