Immunotherapy after liver transplantation: Where are we now?
Kin Pan Au, Ksh Chok
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence on the safety of immunotherapy use after liver transplantation and its efficacy in treating post-liver transplant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence. AIM: To assess the safety of immunotherapy after liver transplant and its efficacy in treating post-liver transplant HCC recurrence. METHODS: A literature review was performed to identify patients with prior liver transplantation and subsequent immunotherapy. We reviewed the rejection rate and risk factors of rejection. In patients treated for HCC, the oncological outcomes were evaluated including objective response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: = 6) and the overall objective response rate was 11%. The median PFS and OS were 2.5 ± 1.0 mo and 7.3 ± 2.7 mo after immunotherapy. CONCLUSION: Rejection risk is the major obstacle to immunotherapy use in liver transplant recipients. Further studies on the potential risk factors of rejection are warranted.