Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with extrahepatic metastasis

Abstract

Abstract. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether there are differences in the clinical characteristics and survival between patients with advanced HCC with extrahepatic metastasis who received and those who did not receive previous treatment. Between April, 1998 and April, 2012, a total of 419 HCC patients with extrahepatic metastasis (81 previously untreated and 338 previously treated) were enrolled in this study. The differences in the clinical characteristics, including metastatic sites, were compared between the two groups. In addition, the prognostic predictors among all the patients and among the 81 previously untreated patients were analyzed. The distribution of the major metastatic sites was similar in the two groups; the most frequent site of extrahepatic metastasis was the lungs, followed by the bones, lymph nodes and adrenal glands. The median survival time (MST) among the 419 patients was 6.8 months. The 1-, 2-, 3-and 5-year survival rates were 31.6, 15.3, 9.5 and 2.3%, respectively. No significant differences in survival were observed between patients who received and those who did not receive previous treatment. The multivariate analysis revealed that the Child-Pugh classification, white blood cell count, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and primary tumor stage were independent predictors of survival for all the patients and for the 81 previously untreated patients. Differences in the clinical characteristics of patients with advanced HCC with extrahepatic metastasis were identified between patients who received and those who did not receive previous treatment. Furthermore, intrahepatic tumor status, Child-Pugh classification, white blood cell count and NLR were demonstrated to be independent predictors of survival in HCC patients with extrahepatic metastasis. IntroductionHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Recent advances in imaging technology and implementation of surveillance programs for high-risk patients have led to increased detection of early-stage HCC, making curative therapies possible in some patients (1,2). However, the long-term survival of HCC patients remains unsatisfactory, due to the high frequency of intra-and extrahepatic recurrence (3,4). In particular, the development of advanced HCC with extrahepatic metastasis hinders the use of curative therapies, such as surgical resection or radiofrequency ablation, therefore contributing to poor survival. Prior to the approval of sorafenib, several systemic chemotherapeutic regimens had been evaluated for patients with advanced HCC, although no effective therapeutic protocols were identified (5,6). Two randomized placebo-controlled trials demonstrated a survival benefit associated with sorafenib for patients with advanced HCC, including those with extrahepatic metastasis (7,8). As a result, sorafenib is currently considered to be the standard treatment for advanced HCC in the United States, Europe, Japan ...

The impact of liver resection on survival outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with extrahepatic metastases: A propensity score matching study

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The systemic inflammatory response as a source of biomarkers and therapeutic targets in hepatocellular carcinoma

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MiR-21 promoted proliferation and migration in hepatocellular carcinoma through negative regulation of Navigator-3

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