Complete remission of multiple recurrent hepatocellular carcinomas by oral administration of enteric-coated tegafur/uracil in a patient with huge hepatocellular carcinoma extending to the inferior vena cava after hepatic resection: analysis of mRNA expression of fluoropyrimidine metabolism enzymes in the primary tumor

Surgical treatment after hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma extending into the right atrium

A resected case of hepatocellular carcinoma which extended into the right atrium after treatment with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) is described. An 81-year-old man presented with right hypochondralgia. CT demonstrated a hypervascular tumor 11.5 cm in diameter extending into the right atrium through the right hepatic vein. The patient underwent HAIC with 100 mg of cisplatin (CDDP IA-call®) particles three times every month. The tumor showed a marked shrinkage and an involution of the venous thrombus around the orifice of the right hepatic vein. Right hemihepatectomy with tumor thrombectomy was performed as a salvage surgery using a total hepatic vascular exclusion technique. Histologically, the tumor turned into diffuse necrosis and fibrosis, so viable tumor cells were encountered neither in the main tumor nor venous thrombus. The therapeutic effect of HAIC was pathological complete remission. The patient has been doing well for 6 years after the surgery without evidence of tumor recurrence. The salvage operation was safely achievable for the initially unresectable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma extending into the right atrium.

Surgical management of hepatocellular carcinoma with tumor thrombi in the inferior vena cava or right atrium

Background

The prognosis for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with tumor thrombi in the inferior vena cava (IVC) or right atrium (RA) is poor, and there is no established effective treatment for this condition. Thus study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of surgical resection and prognosis after surgery for such cases.

Methods

Between January 1990 and December 2012, 891 patients underwent hepatectomy for HCC at our institution. Of these, 13 patients (1.5%) diagnosed with advanced HCC with tumor thrombi in the IVC or RA underwent hepatectomy and thrombectomy. Data detailing the surgical outcome were evaluated and recurrence-free and overall survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results

Seven patients had an IVC thrombus and six had an RA thrombus. Extra-hepatic metastasis was diagnosed in 8 of 13 patients. Surgical procedures included three extended right lobectomies, three extended left lobectomies, five right lobectomies, and two sectionectomies. Right adrenal gland metastases were excised simultaneously in two patients. All IVC thrombi were removed under hepatic vascular exclusion and all RA thrombi were removed under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Four patients (30.8%) experienced controllable postoperative complications, and there was no surgical mortality. The mean postoperative hospital stay for patients with IVC and RA thrombi was 23.6 ± 12.5 days and 21.2 ± 4.6 days, respectively. Curative resection was performed in 5 of 13 cases. The 1- and 3-year overall survival rates were 50.4%, and 21.0%, respectively, and the median survival duration was 15.3 months. The 1- and 3-year overall survival rates for patients who underwent curative surgical resection were 80.0% and 30.0%, respectively, with a median survival duration of 30.8 months. All patients who underwent curative resection developed postoperative recurrences, with a median recurrence-free survival duration of 3.8 months. The 1-year survival rate for patients who underwent noncurative surgery and had residual tumors was 29.2%, with a median survival duration of 10.5 months.

Conclusions

Aggressive surgical resection for HCC with tumor thrombi in the IVC or RA can be performed safely and may improve the prognoses of these patients. However, early recurrence and treatment for recurrent or metastatic tumors remain unresolved issues.

Clinical significance of the thymidylate synthase, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, and thymidine phosphorylase mRNA expressions in hepatocellular carcinoma patients receiving 5-fluorouracil-based transarterial chemoembolization treatment

Purpose

To determine whether 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) sensitivity is associated with the mRNA expressions of thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with 5-FU-based transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Methods

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from 40 patients treated with 5-FU-based TACE were selected for the examination of TS, DPD, and TP expression level by a quantitative real-time reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Patients were categorized into high and low expression groups according to the median expression level of each enzyme. Associations between the mRNA expression levels of TS, DPD, and TP and clinical parameters including treatment efficacies, clinicopathological factors, and prognosis were assessed.

Results

High DPD expression was associated with worse treatment outcome, including intrahepatic disease progression rate (hazard ratio [HR] for high DPD versus low DPD, 2.212; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.030–4.753; P = 0.042), extrahepatic disease progression rate (HR for high versus low DPD, 3.171; 95% CI, 1.003–10.023; P = 0.049), and progression-free survival (HR for high versus low DPD, 2.308; 95% CI, 1.102–4.836; P = 0.027). No correlation was found between the mRNA expression of TS/TP and treatment outcome.

Conclusion

DPD mRNA expression level was negatively correlated with the clinical outcomes of HCC patients treated with 5-FU-based TACE. These results provide indirect evidence that high DPD mRNA expression is a predictive marker of treatment resistance for 5-FU.

Development of a resistance-like phenotype to sorafenib by human hepatocellular carcinoma cells is reversible and can be delayed by metronomic UFT chemotherapy

Acquired resistance to antiangiogenic drugs, such as sorafenib, is a major clinical problem. We studied development of a resistance to sorafenib in new preclinical models of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) along with a strategy to delay such resistance--combination with metronomic chemotherapy. Three different xenograft models were studied using human Hep3B HCC cells, which are highly responsive to sorafenib, namely, orthotopic and subcutaneous transplant in severe combined immunodeficient mice, and an orthotopic transplant in nude mice. The complementary DNA for the β-subunit of human choriogonadotropin was transfected into HCC cells, and urine levels of the protein were monitored as a surrogate of tumor burden. Extended daily treatments, sometimes interrupted by a break period of 3 to 7 days to allow recovery from toxicity at sorafenib doses of 30 to 60 mg/kg, were maintained until and after evidence of tumor relapse. Initially responsive tumors seemed to develop a resistance-like phenotype after long-term daily treatment (e.g., >42 days) at doses of 30 to 60 mg/kg. Transplantation of cell lines established from progressing tumors into new hosts showed that the resistant phenotype was not propagated. Furthermore, a regimen of daily metronomic uracil + tegafur (UFT, an oral 5-fluorouracil prodrug) chemotherapy with a less toxic regimen of sorafenib (15 mg/kg per day) significantly delayed the onset of resistance (>91 days). In conclusion, development of a resistance-like phenotype to sorafenib is reversible, and metronomic UFT plus sorafenib may be a promising and well-tolerated treatment for increasing efficacy by delaying emergence of such resistance.