Improving efficacy of liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma by comprehensive treatment

Currently, several major challenges still exist in liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including the opportunity of liver transplantation for HCC patients beyond selection criteria, drop-out from the waiting list for HCC patients within selection criteria due to tumor progression and the tumor recurrence after liver transplantation. In recent years, revolutionary efficacy has been achieved in treating advanced HCC by employing systemic drugs, such as lenvatinib and systemic drug-based comprehensive treatment, which also sheds light on the down-staging therapy and bridging therapy for HCC patients listed for liver transplantation, and prevention and treatment of tumor recurrence after liver transplantation for HCC individuals. Systemic drug-based comprehensive treatment probably has the potential to improve the clinical efficacy of liver transplantation for HCC, which deserves in-depth investigation. In this review, we summarize the progress on down-staging therapy, bridging therapy as well as prevention and treatment of tumor recurrence after liver transplantation for HCC individuals, aiming to provide reference for clinical managementof HCC.