Because of the organ shortage, non-heart-beating donors have been proposed as a possible source of grafts for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Despite the widespread use of controlled non-heart-beating donors, there are only a few published studies reporting the outcomes with uncontrolled non-heart-beating donors (UNHBDs). A prospective case-control study on adult patients undergoing OLT was designed. We used normothermic extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (NECMO) in all UNHBDs. Matching 2:1 ratio comparison was performed between a study group (UNHBDs) and a brain death donor (BDD) control group. Between January 2006 and March 2008, a total of 60 patients were included: 20 in the UNHBD group and 40 in the control group. The incidence of ischemic cholangiopathy was 5% (n ϭ 1) for the UNHBD group and 0% for the BDD group (P ϭ 0.15). The rate of primary nonfunction was 10% (n ϭ 2) in UNHBD recipients and 2.5% (n ϭ 1) in BDD recipients (P ϭ 0.21), with graft loss in all of them. Three patients were retransplanted in the UNHBD group (15%), 2 of them because of primary nonfunction and 1 because of ischemic cholangiopathy; no patient was retransplanted in the control group (P ϭ 0.012). After a mean follow-up of 330.4 Ϯ 224.9 days, 1-year cumulative patient survival was 85.5% for the UNHBD group and 87.5% for the BDD group (P ϭ 0.768). One-year cumulative graft survival was 80% in the UNHBD group and 87.5% in the BDD group (P ϭ 0.774). In conclusion, UNHBDs under NECMO are a potential source of organs for OLT with encouraging outcomes potentially comparable to those obtained with BDDs.

Latest advances in the field of cancer immunotherapy have developed the (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) CAR-T cell therapy. This therapy was first used in hematological malignancies which obtained promising results; therefore, the use of CAR-T cells has become a popular approach for treating non-solid tumors. CAR-T cells consist of T-lymphocytes that are engineered to express an artificial receptor against any surface antigen of our choice giving us the capacity of offering precise and personalized treatment. This leaded to the development of CAR-T cells for treating solid tumors with the hope of obtaining the same result; however, their use in solid tumor and their efficacy have not achieved the expected results. The reason of these results is because solid tumors have some peculiarities that are not present in hematological malignancies. In this review we explain how CAR-T cells are made, their mechanism of action, adverse effect and how solid tumors can evade their action, and also we summarize their use in colorectal cancer and peritoneal carcinomatosis.

No abstract

Next-generation three-dimensional modelling software for personalized surgery allows spatially accurate depiction of the hepatic and vasculature anatomy based on the complexity and individual variation in each patient, and could facilitate decision-making about preoperative strategy in perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

No abstract