Dr. Yao on Transplants Beyond Milan Criteria for Liver Cancer

Francis Yao, MD, gastroenterologist and medical director of the Liver Transplant Program at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center, discusses liver transplants beyond Milan criteria for patients with liver cancer.

Over the past 20 years, physicians' knowledge of liver transplants for patients with liver cancer has increased, explains Yao. In 1996, the Milan criteria was published, suggesting that transplanting in early stages of liver cancer is the best way to achieve positive results. The Milan criteria is one single lesion up to 5 centimeters, or 2 to 3 lesions up to 3 centimeters.

The Milan criteria has been questioned over the past couple of years, according to Yao. There have been some cases where patients have been outside of the Milan criteria and responded positively to the transplant treatment.