TY - JOUR
T1 - Early clinical response after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy predicts outcomes and anti-tumor response in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
AU - Kuzuya, Teiji
AU - Ishigami, Masatoshi
AU - Ishizu, Yoji
AU - Honda, Takashi
AU - Hayashi, Kazuhiko
AU - Katano, Yoshiaki
AU - Hirooka, Yoshiki
AU - Ishikawa, Tetsuya
AU - Nakano, Isao
AU - Goto, Hidemi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Kuzuya et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2015/9/30
Y1 - 2015/9/30
N2 - Background & Aims We evaluated the relationship between the early clinical response after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy and the outcomes and anti-tumor response in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods Fifty-seven patients who had intrahepatic hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma and Child-Pugh (CP) class A disease at baseline were enrolled in this prospective, multicenter, observational, non-interventional study. As an early clinical response after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy, changes in intra-tumor blood flow on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, and remnant liver function were investigated. Results After 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy, there were 26 patients (45.6%) without disappearance of arterial tumor enhancement on CE-CT, 15 patients (26.3%) with an AFP ratio of >1.2, and seven patients (12.3%) with two or more increments in the CP score. Multivariate analysis showed that the absence of disappearance of arterial tumor enhancement on CE-CT, AFP ratio of >1.2, and two or more increments in the CP score after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy were significant and independent predictors of worse survival. Upon scoring these three variables as "poor prognostic factors", patients with poor prognostic score 4, 3 or 2 (n = 17) had significantly worse outcomes and a significantly higher progressive disease (PD) rate based onmodified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors at 6 weeks after sorafenib therapy than those with poor prognostic score 1 or 0 (n = 40) (median overall survival: 194 days vs. 378 days; p = 0.0010, PD rate: 70.6%vs. 20.0%; p = 0.0003, respectively). Conclusions Changes in intra-tumor blood flow on CE-CT, AFP levels, and remnant liver function after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy may be useful for predicting the outcomes and anti-tumor response to sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB - Background & Aims We evaluated the relationship between the early clinical response after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy and the outcomes and anti-tumor response in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods Fifty-seven patients who had intrahepatic hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma and Child-Pugh (CP) class A disease at baseline were enrolled in this prospective, multicenter, observational, non-interventional study. As an early clinical response after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy, changes in intra-tumor blood flow on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, and remnant liver function were investigated. Results After 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy, there were 26 patients (45.6%) without disappearance of arterial tumor enhancement on CE-CT, 15 patients (26.3%) with an AFP ratio of >1.2, and seven patients (12.3%) with two or more increments in the CP score. Multivariate analysis showed that the absence of disappearance of arterial tumor enhancement on CE-CT, AFP ratio of >1.2, and two or more increments in the CP score after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy were significant and independent predictors of worse survival. Upon scoring these three variables as "poor prognostic factors", patients with poor prognostic score 4, 3 or 2 (n = 17) had significantly worse outcomes and a significantly higher progressive disease (PD) rate based onmodified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors at 6 weeks after sorafenib therapy than those with poor prognostic score 1 or 0 (n = 40) (median overall survival: 194 days vs. 378 days; p = 0.0010, PD rate: 70.6%vs. 20.0%; p = 0.0003, respectively). Conclusions Changes in intra-tumor blood flow on CE-CT, AFP levels, and remnant liver function after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy may be useful for predicting the outcomes and anti-tumor response to sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0138776
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0138776
M3 - Article
C2 - 26421430
AN - SCOPUS:84947712121
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 10
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 9
M1 - e0138776
ER -