A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Postoperative Adjuvant Interferon Therapy After Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

In a group of patients with predominantly hepatitis B-related HCC, adjuvant interferon therapy showed a trend for survival benefit, primarily in those with pTNM stage III/IVA tumors. Further larger randomized trials stratified for stage are needed.

Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver consensus recommendations on hepatocellular carcinoma

“…An RCT was performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of adjuvant IFN Fig. 3 Treatment algorithm of HCC therapy after hepatic resection in a group of patients with predominantly HBV-related HCC [391]. The relative risk of death for IFN treatment was 0.42 (95% CI 0.17-1.05, P = 0.063).…”

Effects of interferon alpha treatment on recurrence and survival after complete resection or ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…8,12,[30][31][32][33][34][35] Of the 8 studies, 3 were from the same research center 30,31,34 ; 1 of the 3, which did not provide the essential data, was excluded 34 ; in the remaining 2 studies that were by the same first author, the patients were the same, and some of the related data were also overlapping 30,31 ; moreover, each of the 2 studies 30,31 offered only part of the data that we wanted to extract, so to obtain full information, we combined the 2 studies and considered them as one. 30,31 Thus, finally 6 studies including 600 patients were included in this meta-analysis.…”

“…[27][28][29] In recent years, several clinical trials have suggested that adjuvant IFN-a treatment could obviously influence recurrence and survival of HCC patients after resection or ablation, while results in these trials were inconsistent. 8,12,[30][31][32][33][34][35] As far as early recurrence was concerned, some suggested that IFN-a could suppress early recurrence, 8,35 but others denied. 12,30-34 As for survival, there were also discordant results reported 8,12,31,32,34,35 ; some concluded that IFN-a could improve survival, 8,31,32,34,35 but others demonstrated the opposite.…”

“…8,12,[30][31][32][33][34][35] As far as early recurrence was concerned, some suggested that IFN-a could suppress early recurrence, 8,35 but others denied. 12,[30][31][32][33][34] As for survival, there were also discordant results reported 8,12,31,32,34,35 ; some concluded that IFN-a could improve survival, 8,31,32,34,35 but others demonstrated the opposite. 12 Considering the conflicting or inconclusive data, to reach a general conclusion, we conducted this meta-analysis with the first objective to evaluate the effect of IFN-a on overall early recurrence and survival after resection or ablation, and second to evaluate the impact of IFN-a on early recurrence and survival after liver resection that is the mainstay of treatment for primary liver cancers.…”

“…5 Liver resection is still considered as the first-line therapeutic option for most patients with HCC, and it is regarded as a standard treatment that can offer an opportunity of cure for patients with localized tumors and preserved liver function. 7,8 Besides, currently local ablative therapies are also considered as the preferred option for some HCC patients. Ablation therapy by percutaneous ethanol injection has been proved effective for HCC when the tumors are small and limited in number, and survival rates are similar to those obtained with surgery.…”