PLAT was as effective as surgical resection in the treatment of solitary and small HCC. PLAT had the advantage over surgical resection in being less invasive.

An effective blood-based method for the diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not yet been developed. Circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) carrying cancer-specific genetic and epigenetic aberrations may enable a noninvasive 'liquid biopsy' for diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. Here, we identified an HCC-specific methylation marker panel by comparing HCC tissue and normal blood leukocytes and showed that methylation profiles of HCC tumour DNA and matched plasma ctDNA are highly correlated. Using cfDNA samples from a large cohort of 1,098 HCC patients and 835 normal controls, we constructed a diagnostic prediction model that showed high diagnostic specificity and sensitivity (P < 0.001) and was highly correlated with tumour burden, treatment response, and stage. Additionally, we constructed a prognostic prediction model that effectively predicted prognosis and survival (P < 0.001). Together, these findings demonstrate in a large clinical cohort the utility of ctDNA methylation markers in the diagnosis, surveillance, and prognosis of HCC.

IMPORTANCE Sorafenib is the first-line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein invasion; however, it has shown unsatisfactory survival benefit. Sorafenib plus hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) of oxaliplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin (FOLFOX) has shown promising results for these patients in a previous phase 2 study.OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy and safety of sorafenib plus HAIC compared with sorafenib for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein invasion. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis randomized, open-label clinical trial enrolled 818 screened patients. Of the 818 participants, 247 with hepatocellular carcinoma and portal vein invasion were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequence to receive sorafenib plus HAIC or sorafenib. This trial was conducted at 5 hospitals in China and enrolled patients from April 1, 2016, to October 10, 2017, with a follow-up period of 10 months.INTERVENTIONS Randomization to receive 400 mg sorafenib twice daily (sorafenib group) or 400 mg sorafenib twice daily plus HAIC (SoraHAIC group) (oxaliplatin 85 mg/m 2 , leucovorin 400 mg/m 2 , fluorouracil bolus 400 mg/m 2 on day 1, and fluorouracil infusion 2400 mg/m 2 for 46 hours, every 3 weeks). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe primary endpoint was overall survival by intention-to-treat analysis. Safety was assessed in patients who received at least 1 dose of study treatment.RESULTS For 247 patients (median age, 49 years; range, 18-75 years; 223 men and 24 women), median overall survival was 13.37 months (95% CI, 10.27-16.46) in the SoraHAIC group vs 7.13 months (95% CI, 6.28-7.98) in the sorafenib group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.35; 95% CI, 0.26-0.48; P < .001). The SoraHAIC group showed a higher response rate than the sorafenib group (51 [40.8%] vs 3 [2.46%]; P < .001), and a longer median progression-free survival (7.03 [95% CI, 6.05-8.02] vs 2.6 [95% CI, 2.15-3.05] months; P < .001). Grade 3/4 adverse events that were more frequent in the SoraHAIC group than in the sorafenib group included neutropenia (12 [9.68%] vs 3 [2.48%]), thrombocytopenia (16 [12.9%] vs 6 [4.96%]), and vomiting (8 [6.45%] vs 1 [0.83%]).CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Sorafenib plus HAIC of FOLFOX improved overall survival and had acceptable toxic effects compared with sorafenib in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and portal vein invasion.

Inactivating mutations of Phex cause X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) by increasing levels of a circulating phosphaturic factor. FGF23 is a candidate for this phosphaturic factor. Elevated serum FGF23 levels correlate with the degree of hypophosphatemia in XLH, suggesting that loss of Phex function in this disorder results in either diminished degradation and/or increased biosynthesis of FGF23. To establish the mechanisms whereby Phex regulates FGF23, we assessed Phex-dependent hydrolysis of recombinant FGF23 in vitro and measured fgf23 message levels in the Hyp mouse homologue of XLH. In COS-7 cells, overexpression of FGF23 resulted in its degradation into N-and C-terminal fragments by an endogenous decanoyl-Arg-Val-Lys-Arg-chloromethyl ketone-sensitive furin-type convertase. Phex-dependent hydrolysis of full-length FGF23 or its N-and C-terminal fragments could not be demonstrated in the presence or absence of decanoyl-Arg-Val-Lys-Arg-chloromethyl ketone in COS-7 cells expressing Phex and FGF23. In a reticulolysate system, apparent cleavage of FGF23 occurred with wild-type Phex, the inactive Phex-3M mutant, and vector controls, indicating nonspecific metabolism of FGF23 by contaminating enzymes. These findings suggest that FGF23 is not a direct Phex substrate. In contrast, by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR, the levels of fgf23 transcripts were highest in bone, the predominant site of Phex expression. In addition, Hyp mice displayed a bonerestricted increase in fgf23 transcripts in association with inactivating Phex mutations. Increased expression of fgf23 was also observed in Hyp-derived osteoblasts in culture. These findings suggest that Phex, possibly through the actions of unidentified Phex substrates or other downstream effectors, regulates fgf23 expression as part of a potential hormonal axis between bone and kidney that controls systemic phosphate homeostasis and mineralization. X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH)1 is a disorder characterized by defective calcification of cartilage and bone, growth retardation, impaired renal tubular reabsorption of phosphate, aberrant regulation of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 production, and resistance to phosphorus and vitamin D therapy (1). XLH is caused by inactivating mutations of PHEX (2-5), a member of the M13 family of type II cell surface zinc-dependent proteases that include neprilysin, endothelin-converting enzymes 1 and 2 (6, 7), KELL (8), and DINE/X-converting enzyme (9, 10). The mouse Phex cDNA sequence is highly homologous to that of humans (11,12), and inactivating mutations of Phex are identified in several mouse homologues of XLH, including Hyp, Gy, and Ska1 mice (10,13,14).Current data indicate that Phex regulates the production and/or degradation of a systemic phosphaturic hormone, referred to as phosphatonin (15). The presence of phosphatonin in XLH/Hyp was detected by parabiosis experiments in which Hyp mice transferred the phosphaturic phenotype to normal mice (16). Studies in parathyroidectomized Hyp mice eliminated parathyroid hormone as the responsible phosph...