Multidisciplinary approaches to downstaging hepatocellular carcinoma: present and future.

Downstaging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is typically defined as the reduction in size or number of viable tumors through locoregional therapy (LRT), aiming to meet the established criteria for liver transplantation (LT). According to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system, a subgroup of patients with BCLC-B may benefit most from downstaging therapies. The United Network Organ Sharing downstaging protocol identifies potential candidates for downstaging by setting out 'inclusion criteria' and defining 'successful downstaging.

Comparison of the clinical results of surgical resection for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas: Hilar cholangiocarcinoma and mid-to-distal cholangiocarcinoma.

Backgrounds/aims: Hilar cholangiocarcinomas (HLC) are known to have worse prognoses than mid-to-distal cholangiocarcinomas (CBDC). We analyzed the clinical results of surgical resections for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas to validate the differences in the prognoses of HLC and CBDC.

Methods: Two hundred and eighty-one patients underwent curative surgical resections for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas at the Department of Surgery in the Korea Cancer Center Hospital.