Liver transplantation for cholangiocarcinoma: current best practice.

Abstract

Cholangiocarcinoma is a rare tumour with dismal prognosis. Only radical resection offers a chance for cure with reported survivals ranging from 25 to 45% at 5 years. Considering the low rate of resectability and lack of efficacy of other treatments, liver transplantation has emerged as a reasonable approach to cure selective patients with unresectable diseases. The use of liver transplantation, however, is associated with the inherent risk of early tumour recurrence due to the need for immunosuppression and the poor survival rate. This review will focus on the role of liver transplantation in treating patients with cholangiocellular cancer.