Life Expectancy after Liver Transplantation for Non-Cirrhotic Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocelluar carcinoma typically occurs with underlying cirrhosis. However roughly 20% of cases arise in a non-cirrhotic liver. There is limited literature that addresses the long-term survival of the narrow subgroup who received transplantation. For such patients we sought to calculate life expectancies both at time of transplant and several years later, stratified by key risk factors, and to determine if survival has improved in recent years. Such information can be helpful in making treatment decisions. METHODS: Data on 4,373 non-cirrhotic HCC patients who underwent liver transplantation in the MELD era (2002-2018) from the United States OPTN database were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model and life table methods. RESULTS: Demographic and past medical history factors related to survival were patient age, donor age over 20, and the presence of ascites or severe hepatic encephalopathy. Survival did not vary by race or sex. HCC-specific factors significantly related to survival were the total number of tumors, extrahepatic spread, lymph node involvement, satellite lesions, micro- or macrovascular invasion, tumor differentiation (grade), and pre-transplant treatment. Survival improved over the study period, at 4% per calendar year during the first 5 years post transplant and 1% per year thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: Life expectancy in non-cirrhotic HCC transplant patients is much reduced from normal, and varies according to age and tumor-related factors. Survival improved modestly over the study period.

Life expectancy in pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer.

BACKGROUND: The prognoses widely reported for pancreatic cancer reflect the very poor survival associated with the most common histological type, exocrine adenocarcinoma. We calculated life expectancies for patients with less common pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs), and also for the subsets of these patients who survive 1 and 5 years post-diagnosis, all of which carry a significantly better prognosis. Results for 1- and 5-year PNET survivors appear not to have been previously reported, nor have life expectancies (average long-term survival times) been given. METHODS: We identified 5287 cases of PNET in the SEER US national database, 1973-2013. The Kaplan-Meier estimator was used to compute empirical survival probabilities and median survival times for functioning (n = 279) and non-functioning PNET (n = 5008) cases. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to examine univariate associations of survival with covariates including patient age, sex, race, cancer stage, tumor grade, surgical treatment, and calendar year. A multivariate multiplicative hazard Poisson regression model estimated mortality rates for all combinations of the covariates. The rates were used to construct actuarial life tables, which gave life expectancies for male and female patients according to age, cancer stage, tumor grade, histology (functioning versus non-functioning), surgical treatment status, and time since diagnosis. These life expectancies were compared with age- and sex-specific figures from the US general population. RESULTS: Life expectancy in PNET is lower than that of the US general population and varies significantly according to patient age, cancer stage, tumor grade, mode of treatment, and time since diagnosis. For example, it is near normal for persons aged 70 and older who undergo surgical resection of localized well-differentiated (i.e., grade I) tumors. By contrast, persons with metastatic high-grade tumors not amenable to surgery have life expectancies of only 1 to 4 years depending on patient age. Functioning PNETs were associated with somewhat lower mortality than non-functioning within the first few years after diagnosis, though no major differences were observed long-term. Positive factors for survival were younger age, localized stage, low tumor grade, and surgical treatment. Survival improved over the 1973-2013 study period: on average mortality rates fell by 1.2% per year after controlling for changes in the patient population. Life expectancy increased markedly with time since diagnosis: those surviving 1 and 5 years post-diagnosis had longer additional life expectancies. CONCLUSIONS: Life expectancies of patients with PNETs may be markedly reduced from normal, but even in the worst cases their prognoses remain significantly better than that of patients with the more common pancreatic adenocarcinomas. In some very favorable cases, the life expectancy is near-normal, especially amongst 1- and 5-year survivors. This information can be used to counsel patients.

Angioedema deaths in the United States, 1979-2010.

BACKGROUND: Hospital admission data indicate that the angioedema incidence has increased during the past several decades. Little is known about mortality trends. OBJECTIVES: To count the number of deaths associated with angioedema in the United States, investigate correlations with age, sex, race, and other contributory causes, and analyze trends from 1979 to 2010. METHODS: All US death certificates in which angioedema was listed as an underlying or contributing cause of death during 1979 to 2010 were analyzed. Age-adjusted mortality rates were analyzed by age, sex, and race. Other conditions designated as the underlying cause of death were investigated. RESULTS: From 1979 to 2010, there were 5,758 deaths in which angioedema was listed as a contributing cause. The age-adjusted death rate for hereditary angioedema decreased from 0.28 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-0.32) to 0.06 (95% CI 0.05-0.08) per million persons per year. Conversely, mortality for angioedema increased from 0.24 (95% CI 0.21-0.27) to 0.34 (95% CI 0.31-0.37) per million. Blacks constituted 55% of angioedema deaths that were associated with use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. On death certificates that listed hereditary angioedema as the underlying cause of death, cancer (frequently lymphoma or leukemia) was the second most commonly listed cause. CONCLUSION: Angioedema-associated deaths were very rare from 1979 to 2010. Hereditary angioedema deaths became even more so, whereas nonhereditary angioedema deaths increased. Risks associated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were higher in blacks. Lack of specific coding for acquired angioedema most likely explains the observed association between cancer and hereditary angioedema. In the future, more granular coding systems may help distinguish hereditary from acquired angioedema.