Role of Transarterial Chemoembolization to Downstage XXXX Within the Milan Criteria.

@entity1 @entity157 @entity137 @entity5
The practice of treating candidates for liver transplantation (LT) for @entity157 ( @entity157 ), with locoregional therapies, is common in most transplantation centers. We present our results using transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as a neo-adjuvant treatment in our center between 2002 and 2013 to determine its effectiveness in downstaging (DS) @entity157 within the Milan criteria (MC). Clinical variables were recorded of both donors and recipients, such as diagnosis and treatment, variables related to its etiology, the use of TACE as a neo-adjuvant treatment, immunosuppressive therapy, @entity137 , recurrence of disease, exitus, and others. Sixty-four @entity1 were analyzed. Median age was 57 (range, 51-64) years. In this study, 84% (54) were male and 16% (10) were @entity1 . Etiology of @entity157 was viral in 47% (30), alcoholic in 25% (16), and other in 28% (18). TACE was conducted in 45 @entity1 (70%). Every @entity1 included in our study presented a T2 stage (of @entity5 -nodes-metastasis [TNM]) before surgery, thus within the MC. However, DS protocol was performed in 5 @entity1 (7.8%). We performed a bivariate analysis, having assessed that the use of TACE decreases T2 stage into T1-T0 stage (P  < .05). We have also calculated the recurrence-free survival, which reaches up to 80% to 125 months. Furthermore, even though the statistical differences are not consistent due to the simple size presented, we conclude that TACE is a safe and effective therapy to control @entity157 progression during the waiting list time.
