Impact of donor age on liver transplant outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: analysis of the SRTR database

Background Donor age is an important predictor for liver transplant recipients. Studies have not fully explored its impact on transplant outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients as well as its involvement in tumor recurrence. Methods HCC patients who received liver transplants during 2010-2017 from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database were included. The recipients were divided into four groups based on donor age: I (<= 34 years), II (35-49 years), III (50-64 years), and IV (>= 65 years). Transplant outcomes, including the overall survival (OS), tumor recurrence, and risks, were evaluated. Results A total of 13,276 HCC recipients were included in this study. Statistical significant differences were observed in OS among the four groups. The best 5-year survival was 76.0% in group I, followed by 73.5% in group II, 72.8% in group III, and 69.2% in group IV (P < 0.001). However, the liver-specific survival did not differ among these groups (P = 0.260). Donor age was found to be the independent predictor of OS after adjusting for other variables (P < 0.001, ref. group I; 1.087 (0.979-1.208) for group II, P = 0.119; 1.124 (1.015-1.246) for group III, P = 0.025; 1.395 (1.215-1.602) for group IV, P < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, OS was significantly different in recipients with hepatitis C virus (HCV), but there was no significant difference for recipients with hepatitis B virus (HBV), alcoholic liver diseases and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The post-transplant cumulative tumor recurrence rates were similar among the four groups (P = 0.382). Conclusions Older donor age was associated with decreased OS but not liver-specific survival as well as post-transplant tumor recurrence in HCC recipients. Donor age also had different effects in patients with different underlying liver diseases.