Abstract
Objectives: Liver transplant has been shown to be a good treatment option for patients with nonresectable tumors that are limited to liver and that do not respond to medical treatment. In this study, our aim was to share our experience in management of patients with neuroendocrine tumors and liver metastasis by liver transplant with and without more extensive surgical interventions.
Materials and Methods: We performed a 6-year (2011-2017) retrospective study of data from the Namazi Hospital Transplant Research Center. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined based on pretransplant policy in our center. Our study included 15 patients with mean age of 33.3 years.
Results: Of the 15 patients included, 53.3% (n = 8) had liver transplant alone, 26.6% (n = 4) had multiorgan transplant, 6.66% (n = 1) underwent Whipple procedure and liver transplant, and 6.66% (n = 1) had segmental ileal resection and liver transplant. Six early mortalities occurred during the posttransplant hospital stay, and 2 patients with multiorgan transplant died in the followup period. In addition, 1 patient needed retransplant during follow-up due to chronic rejection.
Conclusions: In patients with neuroendocrine tumors, the therapeutic approach to the liver metastasis and the prognosis can be determined based on the natural history of the disease, severity and progression of symptoms, tumor biology, location, and differentiation. Early diagnosis and management are needed to allow less invasive treatment protocols, which could result in more favorable outcomes.