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Calderon Novoa et al. Hepatoma Res 2023;9:33 Hepatoma Research
DOI: 10.20517/2394-5079.2023.36

Review Open Access

Liver transplantation for intrahepatic

cholangiocarcinoma: a narrative review of the latest
advances

1,2
1,2
1
1,2
Francisco Calderon Novoa , Victoria Ardiles , Juan Pekolj , Juan Mattera , Martin de Santibañes 1,2
1
Department of general surgery, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1181ACH, Argentina.
2
Department of Surgery, Division of HPB Surgery, Liver Transplant Unit, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
C1181ACH, Argentina.
Correspondence to: Dr. Martin de Santibañes, Department of Surgery, Division of HPB Surgery, Liver Transplant Unit, Hospital
Italiano de Buenos Aires, Juan D. Perón 4190, Bunos Aires C1181ACH, Argentina. E-mail:
martin.desantibanes@hospitalitaliano.org.ar
How to cite this article: Calderon Novoa F, Ardiles V, Pekolj J, Mattera J, de Santibañes M. Liver transplantation for intrahepatic
cholangiocarcinoma: a narrative review of the latest advances. Hepatoma Res 2023;9:33. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-
5079.2023.36

Received: 20 Apr 2023 First Decision: 6 Jun 2023 Revised: 28 Jun 2023 Accepted: 21 Jul 2023 Published: 28 Jul 2023
Academic Editors: Rong-Qian Wu, Bruno Nardo, Kelvin K Ng, Pierluigi Toniutto Copy Editor: Dan Zhang Production Editor: Dan
Zhang

Abstract
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a rare tumor that arises from second order or smaller bile ducts. Its
incidence has been growing in the last couple of decades, in parallel with its mortality rates, both in America and
Europe. The currently accepted gold treatment for iCCA is liver resection (LR). However, results are still poor, with
5-year survival rates ranging between 25% and 40%. In addition, more than half of the patients undergoing LR will
relapse, particularly those who present with multifocal iCCA. Given the aggressiveness of this tumor, and the
modest results seen with adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies, the sights have been set on liver transplantation (LT)
for this disease. Retrospective studies have shown encouraging results in select patients, especially those with very
early-staged iCCA (< 2 cm) who underwent LT. The aim of this review is to analyze the current information
regarding LT for iCCA, as well as future perspectives.

Keywords: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, LT, iCCA

© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
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