Kim Olthoff, MD, Chair
David Mulligan, MD, Vice-chair
Public Comment ended 12/23/2011
Committee met 03/15/2012, reviewed comments
• Share 15 National will be submitted to the Board of Directors in June
• Share 35 Regional - Several decisions:
• Will apply to MELD/PELD exceptions
• No Sharing Threshold
• Awaiting data on Liver-Kidney before decision
• Will meet by call in April or May to vote on
Board submission
OPTN
MELD Enhancements & Exceptions
Subcommittee
• MELD Refit (with or without Na)
• Review of issues with MELD/PELD exceptions / Review Boards
• Revisit PELD Score
Liver Utilization Subcommittee
• Reducing discards
• “Facilitated Placement”
OPTN
HCC Subcommittee
• Explant Pathology Form – Going online
• Will replace faxed forms
• System notice 2 weeks prior
• HCC Hold Proposal (Spring 2012)
• HCC Allocation Issues
Status 1 Review Subcommittee
• Ongoing real-time review of Status 1A/B cases not meeting criteria
OPTN
OPTN
(“HCC Hold”)
OPTN
Currently:
Candidates listed with an HCC exception continue to receive increases in priority every three months regardless of whether the tumors have shown progression
As score increases (22, 25, 28, etc.) candidates begin to receive offers
Centers may wish to inactivate some candidates until there is demonstrated tumor progression:
• Candidates initially listed with small tumors
• Those with well-treated tumors
OPTN
No mechanism to do this without:
• Automatic increases in score ( if extended while inactivated) OR
• Loss of accumulated score ( if not extended while inactive
If inactivated, centers must submit extensions every three months
• Otherwise candidate loses accumulated
MELD score
• Score continues to increase even though
OPTN risk of drop-out may be low
Allow centers to place liver candidates with
HCC Exceptions on ‘HCC Hold’ without loss of accumulated MELD exception score and without mandatory/standard increases in the score q 3 mo
In practice: Candidate is inactivated, reason provided is “HCC hold”
OPTN
Will eliminate offers for high-MELD patients that the center is not yet ready to transplant
• Improve efficiency of the system (fewer turndowns)
• Decrease required applications for extensions, and tests required to complete applications
Allows centers to utilize different ways of treating these patients (e.g., TACE, RFA), while providing the safety net of transplant if/when tumor recurs or demonstrates growth
OPTN
Current Process in UNet ℠ Proposed Change
Centers can extend an approved HCC Exception while candidate is in inactive status.
Approved HCC Exception applications must be extended every 3 months, even while the candidate is in inactive status.
If the application is not extended, the candidate will
No change.
Approved HCC Exception applications may remain on
‘HCC hold’ as long as a candidate is in inactive status; once re-activated, the candidate will retain the lose the accumulated exception accumulated exception score score upon re-activation.
(most recent tumor information must be provided).
OPTN
(p. 62 of proposal)
1/1/2012: Candidate has approved HCC exception, one 2.1 cm tumor (MELD 22).
Exception extended 4/1 (25) and 7/1 (28).
Candidate begins receiving offers; tumor size still
2.1cm
Transplant team decides to observe tumor behavior before proceeding to transplant
Candidate placed on “HCC hold,” periodically undergoes CT to monitor the lesion.
OPTN
(p. 62 of proposal)
12/10/12: CT shows tumor has grown to 2.8 cm.
12/15/12: Center submits the routine tumor information and activates candidate
Candidate’s score of 28 maintained until the next extension
OPTN
(p. 62 of proposal)
1/1/2012: Candidate has approved HCC exception, one tumor treated with RFA that is 2.5 cm in size (MELD 22).
Exception extended 4/1 (25) and 7/1 (28).
Candidate begins receiving offers, however the candidate has an ablation defect with no evidence of viable tumor
Transplant team decides to observe tumor behavior before proceeding to transplant.
Candidate placed on “HCC hold,” periodically undergoes CT to monitor the lesion.
OPTN
(p. 62 of proposal)
1/1/13: CT shows no evidence of viable tumor at the ablation site but a new 1cm hypervascular lesion with wash out on delayed phase imaging.
1/5/13: Center submits the routine tumor information and activates candidate.
Candidate’s score of 28 is maintained until the next extension
OPTN
Candidates with small HCC tumors have a low probability of waiting list dropout or growth beyond current transplant criteria within 12 months of listing
• Washburn et al, AJT 2010
• Massie, et al, AJT 2011
OPTN
The following options are available while a candidate with an approved HCC Exception application is in inactive status:
• T he center may choose to submit an extension application every 3 months, as described above; the candidate will receive a MELD/PELD score equivalent to a 10 percentage point increase in candidate mortality following each approved extension.
OPTN
• The center may keep the candidate in inactive status for any length of time, without submission of an extension application every 3 months. However, prior
OPTN to reactivation, an extension application must be submitted. Once the extension application is approved, the candidate will be listed with the candidate’s previously approved exception score prior to inactivation (i.e., without loss of the accumulated MELD/PELD exception score) upon re-activation.
The Committee will review annually:
How often this option is used
Mean MELD/PELD scores at transplant, number and % of candidates removed from the waiting list for reasons other than transplant for candidates with HCC exceptions versus those without, by Region
Outcomes for candidates whose exception is placed on hold
OPTN
Additional Data Collection:
These proposals do not require additional data collection (forms) in Tiedi SM
Expected Implementation Plan:
UNOS Information Technology (IT) staff will need to reprogram UNet SM to implement these algorithms
OPTN
OPTN