Adjuvant sorafenib after heptectomy for Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer-stage C hepatocellular carcinoma patients

AIM: To investigate the efficacy and safety of adjuvant sorafenib after curative resection for patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer(BCLC)-stage C hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).METHODS: Thirty-four HCC patients, classified as BCLC-stage C, received adjuvant sorafenib for highrisk of tumor recurrence after curative hepatectomy at a tertiary care university hospital. The study group was compared with a case-matched control group of 68 patients who received curative hepatectomy for HCC during the study period in a 1:2 ratio.RESULTS: The tumor recurrence rate was markedly lower in the sorafenib group(15/34, 44.1%) than in the control group(51/68, 75%, P = 0.002). The median disease-free survival was 12 mo in the study group and 10 mo in the control group. Tumor number more than 3, macrovascular invasion, hilar lymph nodes metastasis, and treatment with sorafenib were significant factors of disease-free survival by univariate analysis. Tumor number more than 3 and treatment with sorafenib were significant risk factors of diseasefree survival by multivariate analysis in the Cox proportional hazards model. The disease-free survival and cumulative overall survival in the study group were significantly better than in the control group(P = 0.034 and 0.016, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our study verifies the potential benefit and safety of adjuvant sorafenib for both decreasing HCC recurrence and extending disease-free and overall survival rates for patients with BCLC-stage C HCC after curative resection.

Efficiency and safety of radiofrequency-assisted hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma with cirrhosis:A single-center retrospective cohort study

AIM: To assess the efficiency and safety of radiofrequencyassisted hepatectomy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and cirrhosis.METHODS: From January 2010 to December 2013, 179 patients with HCC and cirrhosis were recruited for this retrospective study. Of these, 100 patients who received radiofrequency-assisted hepatectomy(RF+ group) were compared to 79 patients who had hepatectomy without ablation(RF- group). The primary endpoint was intraoperative blood loss. The secondary endpoints included liver function, postoperative complications, mortality, and duration of hospital stay.RESULTS: The characteristics of the two groups were closely matched. The Pringle maneuver was not used in the RF+ group. There was significantly less median intraoperative blood loss in the RF+ group(300 vs 400 m L, P = 0.01). On postoperative days(POD) 1 and 5, median alanine aminotransferase was significantly higher in the RF+ group than in the RF- group(POD 1: 348.5 vs 245.5, P = 0.01; POD 5: 112 vs 82.5, P = 0.00), but there was no significant difference between the two groups on POD 3(260 vs 220, P = 0.24). The median AST was significantly higher in the RF+ group on POD 1(446 vs 268, P = 0.00), but there was no significant difference between the two groups on POD 3 and 5(POD 3: 129.5 vs 125, P = 0.65; POD 5: 52.5vs 50, P = 0.10). Overall, the rate of postoperative complications was roughly the same in these two groups(28.0% vs 17.7%, P = 0.11) except that post hepatectomy liver failure was far more common in the RF+ group than in the RF- group(6% vs 0%, P = 0.04).CONCLUSION: Radiofrequency-assisted hepatectomy can reduce intraoperative blood loss during liver resection effectively. However, this method should be used with caution in patients with concomitant cirrhosis because it may cause severe liver damage and liver failure.

Complete response to sorafenib in a patient with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma

Partial hepatectomy is still the treatment of choice aiming at a cure for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), provided that the patient can tolerate the treatment. For patients with multiple recurrent HCC after partial hepatectomy which cannot be treated by re-hepatectomy or local ablative therapy, the prognosis is extremely poor. sorafenib is a molecular-targeted agent which has been demonstrated in two global phase III randomized controlled trials to show survival benefit for advanced HCC. Here, we present a 56-yearold patient with HCC who showed complete clinical response after sorafenib was used for tumor recurrence which developed 3 mo after partial hepatectomy. There was no evidence of progression of disease for 60 mo till now after continuous treatment with sorafenib.

Intrahepatic Glissonian approach and outflow vascular occlusion during partial hepatectomy

Under ultrasound guidance, a blunt suture needle was inserted around the Glissonian pedicle and then sutured. This technique significantly reduced the blood loss and facilitated the procedure of partial hepatectomy. We applied this technique in 182 patients who needed partial hepatectomy. We concluded that this method is simple and easy to occlude the vascular inflow and outflow, and allows an accurate delineation of the anatomic zone and therefore, simplifies the procedure of partial hepatectomy.

Modified hepatic outflow tract reconstruction in piggyback liver transplantation

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the experience in modified reconstruction of the hepatic outflow tract during piggyback liver transplantation at our hospital. METHODS: The clinical data on 67 patients undergoing piggyback liver transplantation with modified hepatic outflow tract reconstruction from January 1999 to October 2002 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: In this group, 7 patients (10. 45%) died perioperatively. Complications included: pulmonary infection (38 patients); multiple organ system failure (10), intraperitoneal bleeding (6), acute respiratory distress syndrome (14), thrombosis of the hepatie artery (1), and bile leakage (1). No hepatic outflow occluded. Two recipients survived for over 3 years, 8 over 2 years, and 19 over a year. CONCLUSION: Modified hepatic outflow reconstruction in piggyback live transplantation may increase the success rate of liver transplantation and decrease technical complications.

A clinical study on salvage hepatectomy for treating recurrent liver cancer after radiofrequency ablation

Objective We studied the efficacy of salvage hepatectomy for treating recurrent hepatic cancer after radiofrequency ablation(RFA). Methods A retrospective analysis of 67 patients who had recurrent liver cancer after RFA treatment and received salvage hepatectomy in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University(China), from January 2006 to January 2014, was performed. The analysis included patient gender, age, hepatitis type, alpha-fetoprotein(AFP), and TNM stage prior to RFA and salvage hepatectomy, overall survival rates, and tumor-free survival rates after salvage hepatectomy. Results Among the 67 patients, there were 57 cases of hepatitis B, two cases of hepatitis C, and eight cases did not have hepatitis. AFP levels in patients ranged from 3 to 4521 ng/m L(median 33 ng/m L). Before RFA, 54 cases were stage I tumors, and 13 were stage II tumors. Tumor sizes varied from 0.82 to 4.83 cm(median 3.0 cm). In 20 cases, one RFA was performed, and for 47 cases, RFA was repeated. RFAablated region diameters ranged from 3.8 to 5.2 cm(median 4.5 cm). The interval between the salvage surgical resection and RFA was 3–37 months. Before salvage hepatectomy, 23 stage I tumors, 12 stage II tumors, and 32 stage III tumors were present(size ranged 4.83–11.84 cm; median 6.3 cm). For salvage hepatectomy, laparotomy was performed for 56 cases, and laparoscopy was performed for 28 cases. Inflow clamping was performed for 39 cases(15–45 min). Surgery was 219–370 min and intraoperative blood loss was 100–2100 m L. For 13 cases, intraoperative blood transfusion was required. Tumor pathological data revealed 31, 35, and 1 poorly, moderately, and well differentiated tumors, respectively. No patients died due to operative complications, and hospital stays were 8–10 days. Overall and tumor-free survival rates were 85% and 79% for 1 year, 50% and 20% for 3 years, and 39% and 19% for 5 years, respectively. KaplanMeier analysis and Cox regression confirmed that tumor number and size prior to salvage liver cancer were risk factors affecting survival. Conclusion Patients who received RFA to treat early-stage liver cancer with postoperative recurrent stage I tumors have satisfactory outcomes with salvage hepatectomy.

Degradation of helicase-like transcription factor(HLTF)byβ-TrCP promotes hepatocarcinogenesis via activation of the p62/mTOR axis

Helicase-like transcription factor (HLTF) has been found to be involved in the maintenance of genome stability and tumoursuppression, but whether its downregulation in cancers is associated with posttranslational regulation remains unclear. Here, weobserved that HLTF was significantly downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and positively associated with thesurvival of HCC patients. Mechanistically, the decreased expression of HLTF in HCC was attributed to elevated β-TrCP-mediated ubiquitination and degradation. Knockdown of HLTF enhanced p62 transcriptional activity and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)activation, leading to HCC tumourigenesis. Inhibition of mTOR effectively blocked β-TrCP overexpression- or HLTF knockdownmediated HCC tumourigenesis and metastasis. Furthermore, in clinical tissues, decreased HLTF expression was positively correlatedwith elevated expression of β-TrCP, p62, or p-mTOR in HCC patients. Overall, our data not only uncover new roles of HLTF in HCCcell proliferation and metastasis, but also reveal a novel posttranslational modification of HLTF by β-TrCP, indicating that theβ-TrCP/HLTF/p62/mTOR axis may be a new oncogenic driver involved in HCC development. This finding provides a potentialtherapeutic strategy for HCC patients by targeting the β-TrCP/HLTF/p62/mTOR axis.

42,573 cases of hepatectomy in China： a multicenter retrospective investigation

Hepatectomy is currently routinely performed in most hospitals in China. China owns the largest population of liver diseases and the biggest number of liver resection cases. A nationwide multicenter retrospective investigation involving 112 hospitals was performed, and focused on liver resection for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). 42,573 cases of hepatectomy were enrolled, and 18,275 valid cases of liver resection for HCC patients were selected for statistical analysis. The epidemiology of HCC, distribution of hepatectomy, postoperative complications and prognosis were finally analyzed. In the 18,275 HCC patients,81% had hepatitis B virus infection and 10% had hepatitis C virus infection. 38% of the HCC patients had normal Alphafetoprotein(AFP) level, and other 35% had an AFP level lower than 400 ng mL^(-1). In the study period, 97% of the hepatectomy for HCC were treated with open surgery, and 23.81% had vascular exclusion techniques. The operation time was(191.7±105.6) min,the blood loss was(546.0±562.8) m L, and blood transfusion was(543.0±1,035.2) m L. The median survival for HCC patients was 631 days, with 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival of 73.2%, 28.8% and 19.6%, respectively. Liver cirrhosis, multiple nodules,tumor thrombosis and high AFP level were risk factors that affect postoperative survival.

Expert consensus on organizing the multidisciplinary team(MDT) diagnosis and treatment of hepato-pancreato-biliary diseases in China

Multidisciplinary team(MDT) discussion has been well established in some European countries and widely carried out in various clinical professional fields(Festen et al.,2021;Fleissig et al.,2006).Many studies have reported the benefits of MDT,including improving survival and quality of cancer care(Munro et al.,2015;Nixon et al.,2021;Tsai et al.,2020).