AIM To characterize the survival of cirrhotic patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer(BCLC) stage C hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and to ascertain the factors predicting the achievement of disease control(DC).METH...AIM To characterize the survival of cirrhotic patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer(BCLC) stage C hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and to ascertain the factors predicting the achievement of disease control(DC).METHODS The cirrhotic patients with BCLC stage C HCC evaluated by the Hepatocatt multidisciplinary group were subjected to the investigation. Demographic, clinical and tumor features, along with the best tumor response and overall survival were recorded. RESULTS One hundred and ten BCLC stage C patients were included in the analysis; the median overall survival was 13.4 mo(95%CI: 10.6-17.0). Only alphafetoprotein(AFP) serum level > 200 ng/m L and DC could independently predict survival but in a time dependent manner, the former was significantly associated with increased risk of mortality within the first 6 mo of follow-up(HR = 5.073, 95%CI: 2.159-11.916, P = 0.0002), whereas the latter showed a protective effect against death after one year(HR = 0.110, 95%CI: 0.038-0.314, P < 0.0001). Only patients showing microvascular invasion and/or extrahepatic spread recorded lower chances of achieving DC(OR = 0.263, 95%CI: 0.111-0.622, P = 0.002).CONCLUSION The BCLC stage C HCC includes a wide heterogeneous group of cirrhotic patients suitable for potentially curative treatments. The reverse and time dependent effect of AFP serum level and DC on patients' survival confers them as useful predictive tools for treatment management and clinical decisions.展开更多
Morphological criteria have always been considered the benchmark for selecting hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients for liver transplantation(LT).These criteria,which are often inappropriate to express the tumor’s b...Morphological criteria have always been considered the benchmark for selecting hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients for liver transplantation(LT).These criteria,which are often inappropriate to express the tumor’s biological behavior and aggressiveness,offer only a static view of the disease burden and are frequently unable to correctly stratify the tumor recurrence risk after LT.Alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)and its progression as well as AFP-m RNA,AFP-L3%,des-γ-carboxyprothrombin,inflammatory markers and other serological tests appear to be correlated with post-transplant outcomes.Several other markers for patient selection including functional imaging studies such as18F-FDG-PET imaging,histological evaluation of tumor grade,tissue-specific biomarkers,and molecular signatures have been outlined in the literature.HCC growth rate and response to pre-transplant therapies can further contribute to the transplant evaluation process of HCC patients.While AFP,its progression,and HCC response to pretransplant therapy have already been used as a part of an integrated prognostic model for selecting patients,the utility of other markers in the transplant setting is still under investigation.This article intends to review the data in the literature concerning predictors that could be included in an integrated LT selection model and to evaluate the importance of biological aggressiveness in the evaluation process of these patients.展开更多
文摘AIM To characterize the survival of cirrhotic patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer(BCLC) stage C hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) and to ascertain the factors predicting the achievement of disease control(DC).METHODS The cirrhotic patients with BCLC stage C HCC evaluated by the Hepatocatt multidisciplinary group were subjected to the investigation. Demographic, clinical and tumor features, along with the best tumor response and overall survival were recorded. RESULTS One hundred and ten BCLC stage C patients were included in the analysis; the median overall survival was 13.4 mo(95%CI: 10.6-17.0). Only alphafetoprotein(AFP) serum level > 200 ng/m L and DC could independently predict survival but in a time dependent manner, the former was significantly associated with increased risk of mortality within the first 6 mo of follow-up(HR = 5.073, 95%CI: 2.159-11.916, P = 0.0002), whereas the latter showed a protective effect against death after one year(HR = 0.110, 95%CI: 0.038-0.314, P < 0.0001). Only patients showing microvascular invasion and/or extrahepatic spread recorded lower chances of achieving DC(OR = 0.263, 95%CI: 0.111-0.622, P = 0.002).CONCLUSION The BCLC stage C HCC includes a wide heterogeneous group of cirrhotic patients suitable for potentially curative treatments. The reverse and time dependent effect of AFP serum level and DC on patients' survival confers them as useful predictive tools for treatment management and clinical decisions.
文摘Morphological criteria have always been considered the benchmark for selecting hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients for liver transplantation(LT).These criteria,which are often inappropriate to express the tumor’s biological behavior and aggressiveness,offer only a static view of the disease burden and are frequently unable to correctly stratify the tumor recurrence risk after LT.Alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)and its progression as well as AFP-m RNA,AFP-L3%,des-γ-carboxyprothrombin,inflammatory markers and other serological tests appear to be correlated with post-transplant outcomes.Several other markers for patient selection including functional imaging studies such as18F-FDG-PET imaging,histological evaluation of tumor grade,tissue-specific biomarkers,and molecular signatures have been outlined in the literature.HCC growth rate and response to pre-transplant therapies can further contribute to the transplant evaluation process of HCC patients.While AFP,its progression,and HCC response to pretransplant therapy have already been used as a part of an integrated prognostic model for selecting patients,the utility of other markers in the transplant setting is still under investigation.This article intends to review the data in the literature concerning predictors that could be included in an integrated LT selection model and to evaluate the importance of biological aggressiveness in the evaluation process of these patients.