In Reply We thank Zhang et al for their Letter on our article1 on the beneficial intention-to-treat effect of living donor liver transplant (LDLT) when compared with deceased donor liver transplant (DDLT) in the setting of patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC).
Zhang et al stated that owing to the significant differences between the Eastern and the Western worlds, a head-to-head comparison of LDLT vs DDLT activities performed in the same center instead of a comparison among international centers should be a better way for comparison accurately evaluating the intention-to-treat survival benefit of live donation. We fully agree with this sentence. Our study was designed to evaluate both (1) an international activity in which centers polarized to an (almost) exclusive DDLT or LDLT activity were enrolled and (2) a single-center activity in which both the experiences are commonly done.