Pei YX, Su CG, Liao Z, Li WW, Wang ZX, Liu JL. Comparative effectiveness of several adjuvant therapies after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma patients with microvascular invasion.
World J Gastrointest Surg 2024;
16:554-570. [PMID:
38463369 PMCID:
PMC10921205 DOI:
10.4240/wjgs.v16.i2.554]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 12/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
For resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), radical hepatectomy is commonly used as a curative treatment. However, postoperative recurrence significantly diminishes the overall survival (OS) of HCC patients, especially with microvascular invasion (MVI) as an independent high-risk factor for recurrence. While some studies suggest that postoperative adjuvant therapy may decrease the risk of recurrence following liver resection in HCC patients, the specific role of adjuvant therapies in those with MVI remains unclear.
AIM
To conduct a network meta-analysis (NMA) to evaluate the efficacy of various adjuvant therapies and determine the optimal adjuvant regimen.
METHODS
A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science until April 6, 2023. Studies comparing different adjuvant therapies or comparing adjuvant therapy with hepatectomy alone were included. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals were used to combine data on recurrence free survival and OS in both pairwise meta-analyses and NMA.
RESULTS
Fourteen eligible trials (2268 patients) reporting five different therapies were included. In terms of reducing the risk of recurrence, radiotherapy (RT) [HR = 0.34 (0.23, 0.5); surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) = 97.7%] was found to be the most effective adjuvant therapy, followed by hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy [HR = 0.52 (0.35, 0.76); SUCRA = 65.1%]. Regarding OS improvement, RT [HR: 0.35 (0.2, 0.61); SUCRA = 93.1%] demonstrated the highest effectiveness, followed by sorafenib [HR = 0.48 (0.32, 0.69); SUCRA = 70.9%].
CONCLUSION
Adjuvant therapy following hepatectomy may reduce the risk of recurrence and provide a survival benefit for HCC patients with MVI. RT appears to be the most effective adjuvant regimen.
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