Reply to: "The "six-and-twelve score" for TACE treatment: Does it really help us?"

Prognosis of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with TACE: A New Score Combining Alpha-Fetoprotein and Des-γ-Carboxy Prothrombin

Purpose

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a significant global health problem, requiring precise prognostic tools for optimal treatment stratification. This study aimed to develop a new risk prediction score, called AD score, based on the serum markers alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-γ-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), to offer an objective and accurate preoperative assessment of HCC in patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Patients and Methods

This was a retrospective study that included 295 HCC patients who were subjected to TACE (training set, n=147; testing set, n=148). Serum AFP and DCP levels were log-transformed to construct the AD score. Multivariate Cox regression analysis on cirrhosis subgroups validated the objectivity of the model. Performance comparison of established models (Child Pugh, BCLC, ALBI, Up-to-seven, Six-and-twelve, Four and seven, HAP score, mHAP-II, FAIL-T score), was assessed through time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and risk stratification.

Results

The AD score, incorporating lgAFP and lgDCP, demonstrated superior predictive accuracy than the existing models. Time-dependent ROC curve revealed the consistent superiority of the AD score over a 5-year period. The risk stratification into low, intermediate, and high group based on the AD score showed a significant survival difference in both training and testing set.

Conclusion

For HCC patients undergoing TACE, the AD score serves as an objective and straightforward prognostic tool, enhancing predictive accuracy and showcasing its clinical utility. It demonstrates potential significance as a crucial addition to preoperative risk assessment for TACE.

Management of patients with intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) causes a significant health burden globally and its impact is expected to increase in the coming years. Intermediate stage HCC, as defined by the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) system stage B, represents up to 30% of patients at diagnosis and encompasses a broad spectrum of tumor burden. Several attempts have been made to further subclassify this heterogenous group. The current standard of care recommended by BCLC for intermediate stage HCC patients is transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), with modest outcomes reported. While refinements have been made to TACE technique and patient selection, it remains non-curative. In the real-world setting, only 60% of patients with intermediate stage HCC receive TACE, with the remainder deviating to a range of other therapies that have shown promise in select patient subgroups. These include curative treatments (resection, ablation, and liver transplantation), radiotherapy (stereotactic and radioembolization), systemic therapies, and their combination. In this review, we summarize the classifications and current management for patients with intermediate stage HCC as well as highlight recent key developments in this space.