부산대학교 도서관

Summary: Bridging therapy to prevent progression on the waiting list can result in a sustained complete response (sCR). In some patients, the liver transplantation (LT) risk might exceed those of tumor recurrence. We thus evaluated whether a watchful waiting (CR‐WW) strategy could be a feasible alternative to transplantation (CR‐LT). We performed a retrospective analysis of overall survival (OS) and recurrence‐free survival (RFS) of patients with a sCR (CR > 6 months). Permitted bridging included thermoablation, resection, and combinations of either with transarterial chemoembolization. Patients were divided into the intended treatment strategies CR‐WW and CR‐LT. 39 (18.40%) sCR patients from 212 were investigated. 22 patients were treated with a CR‐LT and 17 patients a CR‐WW strategy. Five‐year RFS was lower in the CR‐WW than in the CR‐LT group [53.3% (22.1%; 77.0%) and 84.0% (57.6%; 94.7%)]. 29.4% (5/17) CR‐WW patients received salvage transplantation because of recurrence. OS (5‐year) was 83.9% [56.8%; 94.7%] after LT and 75.4% [39.8%; 91.7%] after WW. Our analysis shows that the intuitive decision made by our patients in agreement with their treating physicians for a watchful waiting strategy in sCR can be justified. Applied on a larger scale, this strategy could help to reduce the pressure on the donor pool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]