Response to locoregional treatment and alpha-fetoprotein trend in liver transplant candidates for HCC: Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants.

We read with great interest the correspondence on the paper published by Otto et al., on the response to repeated trans-arterial chemo-embolization (TACE) as a discriminating tool for selection of liver transplant (LT) candidates with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Paul et al. evidenced the relative small sample size and the lack of information on the role of TACE on waiting-list dropout. Our aim is to support the results obtained by Otto et al. with the strength and the statistical power of a new recently published European study.