Liver transplantation in patients with neuroendocrine tumors: a case series and literature review

Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) are a rare and heterogeneous group of neoplasms with variable biological behavior. They frequently metastasize to the liver, requiring active, multimodality treatment. Surgical resection, possible in only a minority of cases, was until recently the only potentially curati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Croatian Medical Journal 2021-02, Vol.62 (1), p.44-51
Main Authors: Ilić, Diana, Kunac, Nino, Borčić, Tina, Dinjar Kujundžić, Petra, Mišetić Dolić, Zrinka, Sobočan, Nikola, Lalovac, Miloš, Mijić, Maja, Međimurec, Goran, Kocman, Branislav, Mikolašević, Ivana, Filipec Kanižaj, Tajana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Care and treatment
Case Report
Case studies
Humans
Liver
Liver Neoplasms - surgery
Liver Transplantation
Metastasis
Neuroendocrine Tumors - surgery
Patient Selection
Retrospective Studies
Transplantation
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) are a rare and heterogeneous group of neoplasms with variable biological behavior. They frequently metastasize to the liver, requiring active, multimodality treatment. Surgical resection, possible in only a minority of cases, was until recently the only potentially curative option. For unresectable NET with liver metastases, liver transplantation (LT) emerged as a potential curative treatment due to relatively slow growth and indolent behavior of the metastases. In this case series with literature review, we retrospectively analyzed the characteristics of 12 highly selected patients with metastatic NET disease as an indication for LT treated in our center. We also summarized the proposed prognostic factors, and evaluated and compared the existing selection criteria. The main poor prognostic factors in our patients were high grade NET and primary tumor in the pancreas. Inconsistent liver transplantation outcome parameters make it difficult to standardize patient selection criteria. There is a need for further studies that would fully elucidate the curative potential of LT in patients diagnosed with NET.
ISSN:0353-9504
1332-8166
DOI:10.3325/cmj.2021.62.44