Milan criteria

The Milan Criteria or Milan Criteria apply to patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in conjunction with liver cirrhosis. The criteria are used to assess the chances of success of liver transplantation and are used for the listing for liver transplantation. According to scientific studies, patients who are transplanted within the Milan criteria should have a better long-term survival (75% after 4 years).

The Milan Criteria are defined as follows:

• 1 lesion < 5 cm
• up to 3 lesions < 3 cm
• no extrahepatic manifestation
• no vascular invasion (e.g. tumor thrombosis of the portal vein or liver veins)

Before a liver transplantation (LTX), local ablative procedures (e.g. TACE) are often used (bridging to LTX, or downstaging to meet the Milan criteria)

1. Mazzaferro V et al (1996) Liver transplantation for the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinomas inpatients with cirrhosis.N Engl J Med 334:693-699.