Sirolimus in Liver Transplant Recipients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Updated Meta-Analysis

Previous studies have indicated that sirolimus (SRL) may be effective for HCC patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT). However, the following results are still contradictory and do not have a clear conclusion. Therefore, we conducted an updated meta-analysis by retrieving published data in EMBASE, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library up to October 2017. Both efficiency and safety of SRL were analyzed using pooled odds ratio (ORs) with 95% confidence interval (CIs). A total of 11 studies involving 7,695 HCC patients were included. Compared with control group, SRL prolonged 1-year (OR = 2.44; CI = 1.66?3.59), 3?year (OR = 1.67; CI = 1.08?2.58) and 5-year (OR = 1.68; CI = 1.21?2.33) overall survival, as well as 1-year (OR = 2.13; CI = 1.19?3.81) disease-free survival. Pooled results found that SRL-treated patients had lower recurrence (OR = 0.60; CI = 0.37?0.98), lower recurrence-related mortality (OR = 0.58; CI = 0.42?0.81) and lower overall mortality (OR = 0.62; CI = 0.44?0.89). Moreover, fewer SRL-treated patients suffered from portal vein thrombosis (OR = 0.29; CI, 0.09?0.91) and diabetes (OR = 0.23; CI = 0.12?0.47), while SRL-treated patients were more vulnerable to acne compared with the control group (OR = 4.44; CI = 1.56?12.60). No significant differences in other adverse effects were found between two groups. Taken together, SRL-based immunosuppression is safe and effective in improving survival, as well as reducing recurrence and mortality for HCC patients following LT.