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Liver transplantation for hilar cholangiocarcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background
Both liver transplantation and surgical resection are available for selected patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. However, the effect of liver transplantation vs liver resection for patients with this disease remains uncertain. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relative efficacy between liver transplantation and surgical resection in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
Methods
We systematically searched for eligible studies in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane library. The primary outcome of the studies was data on survival rates for patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The summary results were pooled using the random-effects model or fixed-effects model according to the heterogeneity of the included studies.
Results
Fourteen studies involving 1081 patients were eligible for analysis. Statistical significance was not reached for the comparison between liver transplantation and liver resection in 1-year survival rate [OR=1.03 95% CI (0.823–1.279)]. Liver transplantation, however, significantly increased the incidence of 3-year survival rate and 5-year survival rate as compared with surgical resection [OR=1.29, 95% CI (1–1.66) and OR=1.68, 95% CI (1.02–2.76) respectively].
Conclusions
The findings of this study suggested that liver transplantation is associated with significant improved survival for selected patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Further clinical trials are required to investigate outcomes of liver transplantation.
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
This study was funded by the Sichuan Province Science and Technology Support Program (CN) (Grant No. 2020YFS0234, 2020YFS0233) and 1.3.5 project for disciplines of excellence, West China Hospital, Sichuan University (ZYJC18034).
Disclosures
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
