Efficacy and safety of epirubicin and etoposide combination chemotherapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective analysis

Transarterial infusion of epirubicin and cisplatin combined with systemic infusion of 5-fluorouracil versus transarterial chemoembolization using doxorubicin for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombosis: a retrospective analysis

Background:

More than one-third of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients are diagnosed at advanced stage with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) or extrahepatic metastasis. However, the outcomes of current therapeutic approaches are unsatisfactory. As a novel therapeutic strategy for unresectable HCC with PVTT, we analyzed the outcomes of transarterial infusion of epirubicin and cisplatin combined with systemic infusion of 5-fluorouracil (TAC-ECF) and compared its therapeutic effects and toxicity with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) using doxorubicin (DOX).

Methods:

A total of 540 consecutive HCC patients who received TACE at the Catholic Medical Center between January 2007 and November 2013 were enrolled. Of these patients, we retrospectively analyzed 129 Barcelona clinic liver cancer stage C HCC patients with PVTT who received either TAC-ECF or TACE using DOX.

Results:

The objective tumor response rate was higher in the TAC-ECF group, with 31.3% objective response rate after TAC-ECF compared to 10% after DOX treatment (p = 0.004). Median follow-up period was 7 months (range, 1–57 months). The overall survival rate was also significantly higher in the TAC-ECF group compared to the DOX group (median 9.3 versus 4.6 months, p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis revealed that TAC-ECF and extrahepatic metastasis were independent predictive factors for overall survival (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.002 respectively). No serious adverse effects developed in both groups.

Conclusions:

TAC-ECF therapy was tolerable and showed higher overall survival rate and tumor response compared to the conventional TACE DOX in advanced stage HCC patients with PVTT. Therefore, TAC-ECF may be considered as an effective treatment option for patients with unresectable HCC.

Metronomic capecitabine versus best supportive care as second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective study

Preliminary studies suggest that capecitabine may be safe and effective in HCC patients. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the safety and efficacy of metronomic capecitabine as second-line treatment. This multicentric study retrospectively analyzed data of HCC patients unresponsive or intolerant to sorafenib treatment with metronomic capecitabine or best supportive care (BSC).Median progression free survival was 3.1 months in patients treated with capecitabine (95%CI: 2.7-3.5). Median overall survival was 12.0 months (95% CI: 10.7-15.8) in patients receiving capecitabine, while 9.0 months (95% CI: 6.5-13.9) in patients receiving BSC. The result of univariate unweighted Cox regression model shows a 46% reduction in death risk for patients on capecitabine (95%CI: 0.357-0.829; p  =0.005) compared to patients receiving BSC alone. After weighting for potential confounders, death risk remained essentially unaltered (45%; 95%CI: 0.354-0.883; p = 0.013). Metronomic capecitabine seems a safe second-line treatment for HCC patients in terms of management of adverse events, showing a potential anti-tumour activity which needs further evaluation in phase III studies.

Current status of liver diseases in Korea: hepatocellular carcinoma

Primary liver cancer, most of which is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is the third common leading cancer in Korea. During the last two decades, the incidence rate of primary liver cancer has shown a modest decrease, but its mortality rate has slightly increased. The incidence of HCC, according to age, peaks in the late sixth decade in men and in the early seventh decade in women. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most important risk factor, which represents approximately 70% of all HCC, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and alcohol are the next in order of major risk factors for the development of HCC in Korea. HBV-associated HCC occurs 10 years earlier than HCV-associated HCC due to a more prolonged exposure to HBV, which is vertically transmitted almost from HBsAg-positive mother in HBV-endemic area. National Cancer Control Institute, which was reorganized in 2005, is now working for several national projects such as National Cancer Registration Program, National R&D Program for Cancer Control and National Cancer Screening Program. International collaboration for the clinico-epidemiologic research would be needed to provide the specific measures for managing HCC in diverse etiologic situations. Finally, the mechanisms of hepatitis virus-associated hepatocellular carcinogenesis might be clarified to provide insights into the advanced therapeutic and preventive approaches for HCC in Korea, where the majority of HCC originate from chronic HBV and HCV infections.