Cryotherapy is associated with improved clinical outcomes of Sorafenib therapy
for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
Author(s): Yang Y, Lu Y, Wang C, Bai W, Qu J, Chen Y, Chang X, An L, Zhou L, Zeng Z, Lou M,
Lv J.
Affiliation(s): Center of Therapeutic Research for Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Beijing the 302nd
Hospital, 100 Xisihuan Middle Road, Beijing 100039, China.
yongpingyang@hotmail.com
Publication date & source: 2012, Cell Biochem Biophys. , 63(2):159-69
We assessed the safety and efficacy of sorafenib with cryotherapy (cryoRx) in
advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). One hundred four HCC patients were
enrolled, who met the following criteria: (i) Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage
C; (ii) HCC without distant metastasis; (iii) the presence of portal vein
thrombosis (PVT); (iv) Child-Pugh class A or B; and (v) life expectancy of at
least 12 weeks. The patients were randomly divided into sorafenib-cryoRx and
sorafenib (control) groups. Primary endpoint was time to progression (TTP);
secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and tolerability. Microvessel
density (MVD) was assessed by CD34-immunostaining. After a median 10.5 (4-26)
months follow-up, the data showed that median TTP was 9.5 (8.4-13.5) months in
combinatorial therapy group vs. 5.3 (3.8-6.9) months in sorafenib group (P =
0.02). The median OS was 12.5 (95 % CI 10.6-16.4) months in combination therapy
group vs. 8.6 (7.3-10.4) months in sorafenib group (P = 0.01). Low MVD patients
in combination therapy exhibited significantly longer median TTP and OS than
controls. High MVD was predictive of poor responses to sorafenib. CryoRx did not
increase frequency/degree of sorafenib-related adverse events. Therefore, it was
concluded that the addition of cryoRx significantly improved clinical outcomes of
Sorafenib therapy in advanced HCC with acceptable tolerance and similar safety
profiles as previously reported.
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