Which statement describes Milan criteria for liver transplant eligibility in hepatocellular carcinoma?

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The Milan criteria specify tumor burden limits that predict favorable outcomes after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. It allows either a single tumor up to 5 cm, or up to three tumors each no larger than 3 cm, and requires no vascular invasion and no extrahepatic spread. This exact combination is what makes a patient a good candidate for transplant with relatively lower risk of post-transplant recurrence.

This is why the described statement is the best answer: it states the specific size and number limits and the absence of vascular invasion and distant spread that define eligibility under the Milan criteria.

The other ideas miss essential parts of the criteria: one says any size lesion is allowed if there’s no extrahepatic spread (ignores the size/number limits); another says three lesions of any size (ignores size caps and vascular invasion); and the last suggests portal invasion qualifies (vascular invasion, including portal invasion, is an exclusion).