Comparison of characteristics and transarterial chemoembolization outcomes in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma and different viral etiologies

Nonsurgical management of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a clinical practice guideline

Background

Practice guidelines based on a systematic review of the literature regarding the nonsurgical management of hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) in North America are lacking. Resection and transplantation are the foundations for cure of hcc; however, most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, precluding those curative treatments. A number of local or regional therapies are used and are followed by systemic therapy for advanced or progressive disease. Other treatments are available, but their efficacy, compared with those standards, is not well known.

Methods

First, systematic review questions were developed. Literature searches of the medline, embase, and Cochrane library databases (January 2000 to July 2018 or January 2005 to July 2018 depending on the question) were conducted; in addition, abstracts from the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology were reviewed. A practice guideline was drafted that was then scrutinized by internal and external reviewers.

Results

Seventy-seven studies were included in the guideline: no guidelines, two systematic reviews, and seventy-five primary studies published in full (including one pooled analysis). Five recommendations were developed.

Conclusions

There is no evidence for or against the use of local or regional interventions other than transarterial chemoembolization for the treatment of intermediate- or advanced-stage hcc. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the addition of sorafenib to any local or regional therapy. Sorafenib or lenvatinib are recommended for first-line systemic treatment of intermediate-stage hcc. Regorafenib or cabozantinib provide survival benefits when given as second-line treatment. Antiviral treatment is recommended in individuals with advanced hcc who are positive for the hepatitis B surface antigen.

Viral hepatitis associated hepatocellular carcinoma outcomes with yttrium-90 radioembolization

Background

Viral associated (VA) malignancies have recently been correlated with improved outcomes. We sought to evaluate outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with and without viral hepatitis (hepatitis B and C) treated with lobar yttrium-90 radioembolization (Y-90 RE).

Methods

After IRB approval, an institutional database of patients with HCC who received RE between 2009-2014 was queried and 99 patients were identified that received a total of 122 lobar RE. Charts were reviewed to capture previous treatments, viral hepatitis status, α-fetoprotein values (AFP), Child-Pugh class (CP), albumin-bilirubin score (ALBI), portal vein thrombosis (PVT), volumes treated and doses delivered. Comparison was made with Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U test. Intrahepatic control (IHC), extrahepatic control (EHC), progression free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method stratified by cause of underlying liver disease (viral vs. non-viral) and survival differences were assessed via the log-rank test. Hazard ratios were calculated using Cox regression.

Results

Median follow up for VA HCC and non-VA (NVA) HCC patients was 10.9 months (range, 0.8-46.7 months) and 11.8 months (range, 1.1-62.8 months), respectively. Patients with VA HCC (n=44) were younger (P<0.001) and had smaller pretreatment liver volumes (P<0.001); however, there was no difference with respect to gender, pre-treatment AFP, CP, ALBI, PVT, extrahepatic disease, previous treatment, or dose delivered. Median doses for VA and NVA HCC patients were 129.5 Gy (range, 90-215.8 Gy) and 131 Gy (range, 100.9-265 Gy), respectively (P=0.75). One year IHC showed a strong trend to better control for VA HCC at 67% versus 34% for NVA HCC (P=0.067) but 1 year EHC was significantly worse at 63% for VA HCC versus 86% for NVA HCC (P=0.027). There were no significant differences in survival, with a 1-year PFS of 45% for VA HCC versus 31% for NVA HCC (P=0.56) and 1 year OS of 46% versus 55% (P=0.55). Patients that received salvage treatments, CP A, no PVT, and those without extrahepatic disease had improved OS.

Conclusions

Patients with VA HCC had a trend to improved IHC and significantly worse EHC. Prospective investigation of novel systemic therapies following Y-90 RE in patients with VA HCC is warranted to potentially further extend survival in VA HCC patients by addressing extra-hepatic disease.

Comparison of hepatocellular carcinoma in Eastern versus Western populations

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous disease that remains highly prevalent in many Asian countries and is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Significant differences exist between Eastern and Western populations on many key aspects of HCC, contributing to the potential different treatment outcomes and challenges of clinical trial design and data interpretation. In this review, the authors compare HCC in Asia versus the West and highlight 1) differences in terms of epidemiology and trends and their correlation with etiology, 2) differences in genetics and how they relate to underlying etiology, 3) differences in treatment approaches based on existing guidelines and consensus statements, and 4) differences in clinical outcomes for Asian versus non-Asian patients with HCC in clinical trials and the implications for future clinical trial design. Cancer 2016;122:3430-3446. © 2016 American Cancer Society.

Significant symptoms alleviation and tumor volume reduction after combined simultaneously integrated inner-escalated boost and volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy in a patient with unresectable bulky hepatocellular carcinoma: A care-compliant case report

BACKGROUND

Clinically, elderly patients with unresectable bulky hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are difficult to manage, especially in those with co-infections of hepatitis B and C virus. Herein, we reported such a case treated with radiotherapy (RT) by using combined simultaneously integrated inner-escalated boost and volumetric-modulated arc radiotherapy (SIEB-VMAT). After RT, significant symptoms alleviation and durable tumor control were observed.

CASE SUMMARY

At presentation, an 85-year-old male patient complained abdominal distention/pain, poor appetite, and swelling over bilateral lower limbs for 1 month. On physical examination, a jaundice pattern was noted. Laboratory studies showed impaired liver and renal function. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed a 12.5-cm bulky tumor over the caudate lobe of the liver. Biopsy was done, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was reported histopathologically. As a result, AJCC stage IIIA (cT3aN0M0) and BCLC stage C were classified. Surgery, radiofrequency ablation (RFA), trans-catheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), and sorafenib were not recommended because of his old age, central bulky tumor, and a bleeding tendency. Thus, RT with SIEB-VMAT technique was given alternatively. RT was delivered in 26 fractions, with dose gradience as follows: 39 Gy on the outer Plan Target Volume (PTV), 52 Gy in the middle PTV, and 57.2 Gy in the inner PTV. Unexpectedly, cyproheptadine (a newly recognized potential anti-HCC agent) was retrospectively found to be prescribed for alleviating skin itching and allergic rhinitis since the last 2 weeks of the RT course (2 mg by mouth Q12h for 24 months).After RT, significant symptoms alleviation and tumor volume reduction were observed for 32 months till multiple bone metastases. Before and after RT, a large tumor volume reduction rate of 88.7% was observed (from 608.4 c.c. to 68.7 c.c.). No severe treatment toxicity was noted during and after RT. The patient died due to aspiration pneumonia with septic shock at 4 months after bone metastases identified.

CONCLUSIONS

SIEB-VMAT physically demonstrated double benefits of intratumor dose escalation and extra-tumor dose attenuation. Significant tumor regression and symptoms alleviation were observed in this elderly patient with unresectable bulky HCC. Further prospective randomized trials are encouraged to demarcate effective size of SIEB-VMAT with or without cyproheptadine.

Review of preoperative transarterial chemoembolization for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the few cancers whose incidence has been continually increasing over recent years. Resection of HCC offers the only hope for cure. However, recurrences are common in patients who have undergone resection. In our opinion, the effectiveness with which transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as a neoadjuvant therapy for resectable HCC prevents recurrence and prolongs survival has not been conclusively demonstrated. All published meta-analyses have consistently failed to demonstrate that preoperative TACE improves the prognosis of resectable HCC. We believe that these published articles have several limitations and have our own views about the results of meta-analyses. It is very important that the scientific community shed more light on the pathogenesis of HCC and relate this to choice of therapy. This review mainly concerns our understanding of preoperative TACE for resectable HCC and briefly addresses desirable directions for future studies.

Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver (LAASL) clinical practice guidelines: management of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in the world and the third most common cause of cancer death, and accounts for 5.6% of all cancers. Nearly 82% of the approximately 550,000 liver cancer deaths each year occur in Asia. In some regions, cancer-related death from HCC is second only to lung cancer. The incidence and mortality of HCC are increasing in America countries as a result of an ageing cohort infected with chronic hepatitis C, and are expected to continue to rise as a consequence of the obesity epidemic. Clinical care and survival for patients with HCC has advanced considerably during the last two decades, thanks to improvements in patient stratification, an enhanced understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease, and because of developments in diagnostic procedures and the introduction of novel therapies and strategies in prevention. Nevertheless, HCC remains the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. These LAASL recommendations on treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma are intended to assist physicians and other healthcare providers, as well as patients and other interested individuals, in the clinical decision-making process by describing the optimal management of patients with liver cancer.