Efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy and its combination strategies for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma:A network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND With the rapid progress of systematic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC),therapeutic strategies combining hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy(HAIC)with systematic therapy arised increasing concentrations.However,there have been no systematic review comparing HAIC and its combination strategies in the first-line treatment for advanced HCC.AIM To investigate the efficacy and safety of HAIC and its combination therapies for advanced HCC.METHODS A network meta-analysis was performed by including 9 randomized controlled trails and 35 cohort studies to carry out our study.The outcomes of interest comprised overall survival(OS),progression-free survival(PFS),tumor response and adverse events.Hazard ratios(HR)and odds ratios(OR)with a 95% confidence interval(CI)were calculated and agents were ranked based on their ranking probability.RESULTS HAIC outperformed Sorafenib(HR=0.55,95%CI:0.42-0.72;HR=0.51,95%CI:0.33-0.78;OR=2.86,95%CI:1.37-5.98;OR=5.45,95%CI:3.57-8.30;OR=7.15,95%CI:4.06-12.58;OR=2.89,95%CI:1.99-4.19;OR=0.48,95%CI:0.25-0.92,respectively)and transarterial chemoembolization(TACE)(HR=0.50,95%CI:0.33-0.75;HR=0.62,95%CI:0.39-0.98;OR=3.08,95%CI:1.36-6.98;OR=2.07,95%CI:1.54-2.80;OR=3.16,95%CI:1.71-5.85;OR=2.67,95%CI:1.59-4.50;OR=0.16,95%CI:0.05-0.54,respectively)in terms of efficacy and safety.HAIC+lenvatinib+ablation,HAIC+ablation,HAIC+anti-programmed cell death 1(PD-1),and HAIC+radiotherapy had the higher likelihood of providing better OS and PFS outcomes compared to HAIC alone.HAIC+TACE+S-1,HAIC+lenvatinib,HAIC+PD-1,HAIC+TACE,and HAIC+sorafenib had the higher likelihood of providing better partial response and objective response rate outcomes compared to HAIC.HAIC+PD-1,HAIC+TACE+S-1 and HAIC+TACE had the higher likelihood of providing better complete response and disease control rate outcomes compared to HAIC alone.CONCLUSION HAIC proved more effective and safer than sorafenib and TACE.Furthermore,combined with other interventions,HAIC showed improved efficacy over HAIC monotherapy according to the treatment ranking analysis.

Laboratory scoring system to predict hepatic indocyanine green clearance ability during fluorescence imaging-guided laparoscopic hepatectomy

BACKGROUND Indocyanine green(ICG)fluorescence played an important role in tumor localization and margin delineation in hepatobiliary surgery.However,the preoperative regimen of ICG administration was still controversial.Factors associated with tumor fluorescence staining effect were unclear.AIM To investigate the preoperative laboratory indexes corelated with ICG fluorescence staining effect and establish a novel laboratory scoring system to screen specifical patients who need ICG dose adjustment.METHODS To investigate the predictive indicators of ICG fluorescence characteristics in patients undergoing laparoscopic hepatectomy from January 2018 to January 2021 were included.Blood laboratory tests were completed within 1 wk before surgery.All patients received 5 mg ICG injection 24 h before surgery for preliminary tumor imaging.ImageJ software was used to measure the fluorescence intensity values of regions of interest.Correlation analysis was used to identify risk factors.A laboratory risk model was established to identify individuals at high risk for high liver background fluorescence.RESULTS There were 110 patients who were enrolled in this study from January 2019 to January 2021.The mean values of fluorescence intensity of liver background(FI-LB),fluorescence intensity of gallbladder,and fluorescence intensity of target area were 18.87±17.06,54.84±33.29,and 68.56±36.11,respectively.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve showed that FI-LB was a good indicator for liver clearance ability[area under the ROC curve(AUC)=0.984].Correlation analysis found pre-operative aspartate aminotransferase,alanine aminotransferase,gammaglutamyl transpeptidase,adenosine deaminase,and lactate dehydrogenase were positively associated with FI-LB and red blood cell,cholinesterase,and were negatively associated with FI-LB.Total laboratory risk score(TLRS)was calculated according to ROC curve(AUC=0.848,sensitivity=0.773,specificity=0.885).When TLRS was greater than 6.5,the liver clearance ability of ICG was considered as poor.CONCLUSION Preoperative laboratory blood indicators can predict hepatic ICG clearance ability.Surgeons can adjust the dose and timing of ICG preoperatively to achieve better liver fluorescent staining.