Fever within 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy predicts favorable treatment efficacy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fever within 2 weeks after the start of sorafenib therapy and treatment efficacy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: One hundred and two patients with advanced HCC were enrolled in this study. We retrospectively compared patients with fever (more than 38°C) within 2 weeks after the start of sorafenib therapy (fever group, n = 34) and patients without fever (non-fever group, n = 68) in terms of survival, best antitumor response, and change in intratumor blood on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy. Results: Fever was the only significant and independent predictor of better outcomes (hazard ratio, 0.517; 95% confidence interval, 0.319-0.838; p = 0.0071). In the fever group, the partial response rate, the disease control rate, and the rate of disappearance of arterial tumor enhancement on CE-CT after 2 weeks of sorafenib therapy were significantly higher than those in the non-fever group (38.2 vs. 5.9%, respectively, p = 0.0001; 85.3 vs. 60.3%, respectively, p = 0.0103; 76.5 vs. 35.3%, respectively, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Fever within 2 weeks after the start of sorafenib therapy may be a useful predictor of a favorable treatment response in patients with advanced HCC.