title: Living and deceased donor liver transplantation for unresectable hepatoblastoma at a single center.
abstract: Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common malignant liver tumor in children. The application of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in the management of unresectable HB may add new therapeutic opportunities. We evaluated the outcomes of patients who underwent liver transplantation for treatment of unresectable HB in the period between August 1985 and June 2003. Ten children had a diagnosis of unresectable HB. Mean age at transplantation was 5.8 yr. Eight patients were transplanted with deceased donor grafts. Two patients underwent LDLT. Pre-transplant chemotherapy was used in 90% of cases. Post-transplant survival ranges from 3.7 to 18.6 yr. Three patients died of recurrent disease at 4, 14 and 38 months. The two LDLT recipients were able to get pre-transplant chemotherapy with a rapid decision towards transplantation; both are alive and well at 5.5 and 11 yr post-transplant. Our experience supports the role of LDLT and deceased donor liver transplantation in the management of unresectable HB when waiting times can be detrimental to the patient's survival.
authors.affiliation: Transplant Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA. mejiaa@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mejia
authors.forename: Alan N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Langnas
authors.forename: Byers W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Clarivet
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Debra L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Sudan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018197:Hepatoblastoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D012189:Retrospective Studies