Association between the early high level of serum tacrolimus and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in ABO-incompatible liver transplantation

Figure 3 Hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and its association with tacrolimus trough concentration. A: Survival curve presenting difference in the graft survival between hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence (n = 13) and non-recurrence (n = 34); B: Comparison of tacrolimus concentrations in the HCC recurrence (n = 13) and non-recurrence (n = 34) groups at each time point (left) and at 4 wk (right); C and D: Two patients who died during the perioperative period from postoperative complication or sepsis were excluded; C: Survival curves presenting recurrence-free survival (RFS) according to tacrolimus trough concentration at 4 wk post-liver transplantation (LT) before propensity-score matching (> 7.3 ng/mL, n = 13 vs ≤ 7.3 ng/mL, n = 34) and after matching (> 7.3 ng/mL, n = 12 vs ≤ 7.3 ng/mL, n = 12); Patients for whom tacrolimus concentrations 4 wk post-LT were not reported were excluded from the analyses; D: Prior to transplantation, patients were assigned to subgroups according to the Milan criteria in the pre-LT radiologic evaluation. RFS curves for each subgroup according to trough tacrolimus concentration at 4 wk post-LT are presented. ABOi: ABO-incompatible; FK: Tacrolimus; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; LT: Liver transplantation. ^aP < 0.05.