The effect of locoregional therapies in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib

Clinical outcomes by Child-Pugh Class in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in a community oncology setting

Aim

Many pivotal trials in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) require participants to have Child-Pugh A disease. However, many patients in real-world practice are Child-Pugh B or C. This study examined treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with advanced HCC treated with first-line systemic therapy.

Materials & methods

In this retrospective study, patients with HCC treated with first-line systemic therapy (2010-2017) were identified from US Oncology Network records. Outcomes included overall survival and progression-free survival, by Child-Pugh Class and prior liver-directed therapy.

Results

Of 352 patients, 78.7% were Child-Pugh A or B, 96.6% received first-line sorafenib, and 33.8% received first-line-prior liver-directed therapy. Survival outcomes were similar for Child-Pugh A or B, and longer after first-line prior liver-directed therapy.

Conclusion

First-line systemic therapy is beneficial in patients with Child-Pugh A or B, and after first-line prior liver-directed therapy. These findings may help position systemic therapy in the community setting.

External Beam Radiation Therapy for Primary Liver Cancers: An ASTRO Clinical Practice Guideline

PURPOSE

This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for the indications and technique-dose of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHC).

METHODS

The American Society for Radiation Oncology convened a task force to address 5 key questions focused on the indications, techniques, and outcomes of EBRT in HCC and IHC. This guideline is intended to cover the definitive, consolidative, salvage, preoperative (including bridge to transplant), and adjuvant settings as well as palliative EBRT for symptomatic primary lesions. Recommendations were based on a systematic literature review and created using a predefined consensus-building methodology and system for grading evidence quality and recommendation strength.

RESULTS

Strong recommendations are made for using EBRT as a potential first-line treatment in patients with liver-confined HCC who are not candidates for curative therapy, as consolidative therapy after incomplete response to liver-directed therapies, and as a salvage option for local recurrences. The guideline conditionally recommends EBRT for patients with liver-confined multifocal or unresectable HCC or those with macrovascular invasion, sequenced with systemic or catheter-based therapies. Palliative EBRT is conditionally recommended for symptomatic primary HCC and/or macrovascular tumor thrombi. EBRT is conditionally recommended as a bridge to transplant or before surgery in carefully selected patients. For patients with unresectable IHC, consolidative EBRT with or without chemotherapy should be considered, typically after systemic therapy. Adjuvant EBRT is conditionally recommended for resected IHC with high-risk features. Selection of dose-fractionation regimen and technique should be based on disease extent, disease location, underlying liver function, and available technologies.

CONCLUSIONS

The task force has proposed recommendations to inform best clinical practices on the use of EBRT for HCC and IHC with strong emphasis on multidisciplinary care. Future studies should focus on further defining the role of EBRT in the context of liver-directed and systemic therapies and refining optimal regimens and techniques.

Regorafenib combined with transarterial chemoembolization for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a real-world study

BACKGROUND

The benefits and tolerability of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with regorafenib as a second-line therapy has not been reported for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to explore the benefits and tolerability of TACE combined with second-line regorafenib in patients with unresectable advanced HCC and failure to first-line treatment.

METHODS

This was a multicenter retrospective study of patients with progression after first-line sorafenib and/or lenvatinib between 01/2019 and 04/2020 at four tertiary hospitals in China. The patients were treated with TACE. Then, 5-7 days after the first TACE, the patients started taking regorafenib for 3 weeks every 4-week cycle. The overall survival (OS), time to progression (TTP), progression-free survival (PFS), and adverse events (AEs) were observed.

RESULTS

The median follow-up was 5.6 (range 0.7, 17.0) months. The median age was 60 (range 35, 79) years. There were 32 (84.2%) males. The patients underwent a median of three TACE sessions (range 1-13). The initial doses of regorafenib were 20 mg/d (n = 1, 2.6%), 80 mg/d (n = 10, 26.3%), 120 mg/d (n = 15, 39.5%), and 160 mg/d (n = 11, 28.9%). The incidence of grade 3/4 AEs was 15.8%. Two patients stopped regorafenib due to AEs. The median OS was 14.3 months. The median PFS and TTP were 9.1 (95% CI 4.0, 14.2) and 9.1 (95% CI 5.5, 12.8) months, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study provides real-world evidence indicating that regorafenib combined with TACE was beneficial and tolerable in patients with unresectable HCC. Additional prospective large-scale studies are required for confirmation.

Impact of Extrahepatic Metastases on Overall Survival in Patients with Advanced Liver Dominant Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Subanalysis of the SORAMIC Trial

INTRODUCTION

Extrahepatic spread is reported as a prognostic factor in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving systemic therapy. However, clinical studies have reported conflicting results for the clinical impact of the pattern of tumor progression during treatment and the role of new extrahepatic metastases in length of survival.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of extrahepatic metastases on survival in patients with HCC treated with sorafenib or with a combination of sorafenib and selective internal radiation treatment (SIRT).

METHODS

SORAMIC is a randomized, controlled trial comprising diagnostic, local ablation, and palliative cohorts. In the palliative cohort, patients not eligible for transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) were randomized 11:10 to SIRT plus sorafenib (SIRT + sorafenib) or sorafenib alone. This exploratory subanalysis evaluated the impact of extrahepatic metastases on survival.

RESULTS

In the intent-to-treat cohort, 216 patients were randomized to SIRT + sorafenib and 208 to sorafenib alone. Seventeen patients with distant organ metastases (bone, n = 11; adrenal glands, n = 5; peritoneum, n = 1) and 262 without distant metastases at study entry were analyzed in this substudy. Patients with (Group A) and without (Group B) distant organ metastases at study entry presented with a median survival of 11.3 and 14.8 months, respectively (p = 0.2807). During follow-up of patients with no organ metastases at baseline, extrahepatic disease progression occurred in 50 patients (19.1%). No statistically significant difference in survival was observed between patients without extrahepatic progression and those with new extrahepatic disease during treatment (14.8 vs. 14.9 months; p = 0.6483). Development of new pulmonary metastases during treatment significantly shortened median survival (7.6 vs. 15.0 months, p = 0.0060).

CONCLUSIONS

This subanalysis of the SORAMIC trial suggests that in patients with liver-dominant advanced HCC, metastases to distant organs with the exception of pulmonary metastases do not in general exert a negative impact on patient prognosis. The choice of palliative treatment should incorporate a personalized analysis of the pattern of tumor distribution.

Tropism of liver epithelial cells toward hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo with altering gene expression of cancer stem cells

BACKGROUND

Rat liver epithelial (RLE) cells could inhibit the proliferation and invasiveness of hepatoma cells in vitro. This study is to understand the tropism and the effect of RLE cells on mouse hepatoma cells both in vitro and in vivo.

METHODS

RLE cells were isolated from new-born rats and characterized their stem cell markers. Co-culture and HCC mouse model was established to detect therapeutic effect of RLE cells.

RESULTS

RLE cells (including Thy-1⁺ RLE cells, Thy-1^- RLE cells, RLE cells) displayed a selective tropism toward ML-1 hepatoma cells both in vitro and in vivo. They altered the gene expression of some cancer stem cell markers in the liver tumor.

CONCLUSION

Liver epithelial cells have a selective tropism toward HCC in vitro and in vivo. They could alter the gene expression of cancer stem cells.

Transarterial Chemoembolization and Radioembolization across Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stages

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a well-established treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). TACE has a clearly delineated role within the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging framework, and TACE has been shown to bridge patients to transplantation and to downsize patients' tumor burden to meet transplantation criteria. Radioembolization (RE) also has an evolving role in the treatment of HCC. RE has evidence-based applications across the range of BCLC stages ranging from segmentectomy for patients with solitary lesions not amenable to ablation to lobar therapy for patients with multifocal HCC, and to treatment of advanced disease with portal vein thrombosis. This article aims to elucidate the evidence behind these therapies and to provide a rationale for their utilization across the spectrum of BCLC stages in the treatment of HCC.