Survival rates according to barcelona clinic liver cancer sub-staging system after transarterial embolization for intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma

The Diagnosis and Staging of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Review of Current Practices

Promoting the early detection and diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a critical strategy to improve patient outcomes as this can lead to greater access to curative treatments. This review highlights the diagnostic tests for HCC, including the use of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System systems and histopathology. Staging is essential for informing prognosis and guiding treatment decisions; this review also covers a widely used and well-validated staging system called the Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) algorithm. The BCLC incorporates tumor status, liver function, and patient performance to stage patients with newly diagnosed HCC.

Outpatient management after hospitalisation for acute decompensation of cirrhosis: A practical guide

Acute decompensation in cirrhotic patients signifies the onset of clinically evident events due to portal hypertension. The transition from compensated to decompensated cirrhosis involves hemodynamic changes leading to multiorgan dysfunction, managed predominantly in outpatient settings with regular monitoring. The mortality risk is elevated in decompensated patients. Therefore, diligent outpatient management should focus on regular medical follow-ups, medication adjustments, patient education, addressing emergent issues and evaluation for liver transplantation. The ultimate goal is to improve quality of life, prevent disease progression, reduce complications, and assess possible recompensation. This guide provides valuable recommendations for medical experts managing decompensated cirrhotic patients post-hospitalization.

Multiple asynchronous recurrence as a predictive factor for refractoriness against locoregional and surgical therapy in patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma

Development of subclassification of intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by treatment suitability is in demand. We aimed to identify predictors that define treatment refractoriness against locoregional(transarterial chemoembolization(TACE) or thermal ablation) and surgical therapy. This multicenter retrospective study enrolled 1167 HCC patients between 2015 and 2021. Of those, 209 patients were initially diagnosed with intermediate-stage HCC. Treatment refractoriness was defined as clinical settings that meets the following untreatable progressive conditions by TACE (1) 25% increase of intrahepatic tumor, (2) transient deterioration to Child-Pugh class C, (3) macrovascular invasion or extrahepatic spread, within one year. We then analyzed factors contributing to treatment refractoriness. The Child-Pugh score/class, number of tumors, infiltrative radiological type, and recurrence were significant factors. Focusing on recurrence as a predictor, median time to untreatable progression (TTUP) was 17.2 months in the recurrence subgroup whereas 35.5 months in the initial occurrence subgroup (HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.44-2.96; P = 0.001). Median TTUP decreased in cases with more later times of recurrence (3-5 recurrences, 17.3 months; ≥ 6 recurrences, 7.7 months). Recurrence, even more at later times, leads to increased treatment refractoriness. Early introduction of multidisciplinary treatment should be considered against HCC patients after multiple recurrent episodes.

Predictors for early recurrence beyond up-to-7 or distant metastasis after hepatocellular carcinoma resection: proposal for borderline resectable HCC

BACKGROUND

The recurrence rate after curative resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) reaches over 70% after 5 years and early recurrence (within 1 year) is now recognized as having a poor prognosis and has limited treatment options.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 184 consecutive patients who underwent curative hepatic resection for HCC. Severe early recurrence was defined as multiple (beyond up-to-7) liver recurrence or distant metastasis after hepatic resection within 1 year. We divided the participants into two groups according to severe early recurrence and analyzed clinicopathological and long-term outcomes.

RESULTS

Among the patients with multiple or distant metastasis (n = 59), 49 patients (83%) had recurrence within 1 year. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were significantly worse in the severe early recurrence group than in the others group. Logistic regression analysis revealed that severe early recurrence was significantly associated with macroscopic vascular invasion (MVI), tumor burden score (TBS) > 4.70, and ALBI grade 2. In patients with scores of 2 and 3 (the sum of the three factors), OS and RFS rates were significantly poorer than those of patients with scores of 0 or 1. Positive predictive value and negative predictive value for severe early recurrence was 68.4% and 84.2%, respectively. Furthermore, a validation study demonstrated that cases with these factors were at high risk of severe early recurrence and had poor prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

In this retrospective analysis, MVI, TBS, and ALBI could predict severe early recurrence after hepatic resection for HCC, and patients with these risk factors had a poor prognosis.

A Retrospective Study on Predicting Recurrence of Intermediate-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Radical Therapy

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the potential benefits of radical therapy in patients with stage B disease.

Patients and Methods

A retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of 437 patients diagnosed with stage B hepatocellular carcinoma, who underwent either hepatic resection (HR) or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) at the Cancer Institute and Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from May 2011 to May 2022. Multivariate COX regression analysis was performed to identify the independent prognostic factors related to recurrence-free survival (RFS). The performance of the developed nomogram was evaluated using various statistical measures, including the concordance index (C-index), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis (DCA).

Results

Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor diameter, number of tumors, number of involved liver segments, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and systemic immune inflammation index (SII) were independent prognostic factors influencing patients' RFS, and these factors were incorporated into the nomogram. The C-index of the nomogram in the training cohort was 0.721, and the AUC at 2 and 3 years was 0.772 and 0.790, respectively. These values were appreciably higher than commonly used clinic staging systems and other predictive models. The calibration curve and DCA demonstrated good calibration and net benefit. Survival analysis comparing stage B patients who received radical treatment with stage A patients with multiple lesions did not reveal a significant difference in Kaplan-Meier survival curves (P=0.91).

Conclusion

The nomogram provided a precise prediction of the recurrence for stage B hepatocellular carcinoma patients undergoing radical treatment. Furthermore, certain stage B patients may benefit from radical treatment.

The priority of liver resection compared with transarterial chemoembolization in hepatocellular carcinoma at BCLC B1 stage: A single-center experience

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to compare the efficacy of liver resection (LR) and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer B1 (BCLC B1) hepatocellular carcinoma.

METHODS

A total of 65 patients with BCLC B1 were divided into the radical (LR group) and TACE groups. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out, and the prognostic factors for survival outcomes were identified using Cox proportional analysis.

RESULTS

The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates in the LR group (P = 0.036) were significantly higher than those in the TACE group (P = 0.027). Results of the multivariate analysis demonstrated that tumor distribution (both lobes vs. semi-liver) and treatment strategy (LR vs. TACE) were independent risk factors for the overall survival (OS) [hazard ratios (HRs): 3.926 and 0.479; P < 0.05] and PFS (HR: 3.336 and 0.465, P < 0.05). LR was associated with increased OS and PFS compared with TACE in patients with BCLC B1 hepatocellular carcinoma.

Extending Surgical Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Beyond Barcelona Clinic for Liver Cancer (BCLC) Stage A: A Novel Application of the Modified BCLC Staging System

Objective

We aimed to prognosticate survival after surgical resection of HCC stratified by stage with amalgamation of the modified Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system and location of tumour.

Methods

This single-institutional retrospective cohort study included patients with HCC who underwent surgical resection between 1st January 2000 to 30th June 2016. Participants were divided into 6 different subgroups: A-u) Within MC with Unilobar lesions; A-b) Within MC + Bilobar lesions; B1-u) Out of MC + within Up-To-7 + Unilobar lesions; B1-b) Out of MC + within Up-to-7 + Bilobar lesions; B2-u) Out of MC + Out of Up-To-7 + Unilobar lesions; B2-b) Out of MC + Out of Up-To-7 + Bilobar lesions. A separate survival analysis was conducted for solitary HCC lesions according to three subgroups: A-S (Within MC); B1-S (Out of MC + within Up-To-7); B2-S (Out of MC + out of Up-To-7).

Results

A total of 794 of 1043 patients with surgical resection for HCC were analysed. Groups A-u (64.6%), A-b (58.4%) and B1-u (56.2%) had 5-year cumulative overall survival (OS) rates above 50% after surgical resection and median OS exceeding 60 months (P = 0.0001). The 5-year cumulative recurrence-free survival rates (RFS) were 40.4% (group A-u), 38.2% (group A-b), 36.3% (group B1-u), 24.6% (group B2-u), and 7.3% (group B2-b)(P=0.0001). For solitary lesions, the 5-year OS for the subgroups were A-S (65.1%), B1-S (56.0%) and B2-S (47.1%) (P = 0.0003). Compared to A-S, there was also a significant trend towards relatively poorer OS as the lesion sizes increased in B1-S (HR 1.46, 95% CI 1.03–2.08) and B2-S (HR 1.65, 95% CI 1.25–2.18).

Conclusion

We adopted a novel approach combining the modified BCLC B sub-classification and dispersion of tumour to show that surgical resection in intermediate stage HCC can be robustly prognosticated. We found that size prognosticates resection outcomes in solitary tumours.

Incorporating albumin-bilirubin grade and up-to-seven criteria to predict outcomes of patients with intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial (chemo)embolization

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

This study is to use albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade and up-to-7 (UT7) criteria to assess outcomes of patients with intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transarterial (chemo)embolization (TA(C)E).

METHODS

Between January 2012 and January 2019, newly diagnosed intermediate HCC patients underwent TA(C)E were enrolled and analyzed. The demographics, clinical characteristics and survival were obtained from medical chart reviews.

RESULTS

A total of 359 patients were enrolled and 30.4% of them were within UT7 criteria (UT7 (-)). There were 36.5%, 59.3%, and 4.2% of the patients with ALBI grade I, II, and III, respectively. Beyond UT7 (UT7 (+)) and ALBI grade II/III were associated with overall mortality in multivariate analysis. Based on ALBI grade I/II/III and UT7 -/+, patients were classified into six groups as ALBI grade I plus UT7 (-), II plus UT7 (-), III plus UT7 (-), I plus UT7 (+), II plus UT7 (+), and III plus UT7(+). Distributions of median survival were 47.5, 32.9, 15, 34.3, 16.7 and 14.3 months, respectively. Patients with statistically insignificant survivals were further combined. Patients with ALBI grade I plus UT7 (-) were reclassified as ALBI-U class I, whereas ALBI grade II plus UT7 (-) and I plus UT7 (+) were ALBI-U class II, and the others were ALBI-U class III. There were 8.4%, 48.7%, and 42.9% of patients in ALBI-U class I, II, and III, respectively. The 5-year survival rate was 48.8%, 22.5%, and 13.7% in ALBI-U class I, II, and III, respectively (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

ALBI-U classification was useful in predicting outcomes of patient with intermediate stage HCC after TA(C)E.

Management of patients with intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) causes a significant health burden globally and its impact is expected to increase in the coming years. Intermediate stage HCC, as defined by the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) system stage B, represents up to 30% of patients at diagnosis and encompasses a broad spectrum of tumor burden. Several attempts have been made to further subclassify this heterogenous group. The current standard of care recommended by BCLC for intermediate stage HCC patients is transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), with modest outcomes reported. While refinements have been made to TACE technique and patient selection, it remains non-curative. In the real-world setting, only 60% of patients with intermediate stage HCC receive TACE, with the remainder deviating to a range of other therapies that have shown promise in select patient subgroups. These include curative treatments (resection, ablation, and liver transplantation), radiotherapy (stereotactic and radioembolization), systemic therapies, and their combination. In this review, we summarize the classifications and current management for patients with intermediate stage HCC as well as highlight recent key developments in this space.

Evolution and current status of the subclassification of intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma

The staging and treatment of intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains controversial. According to the recommendations of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system, patients with intermediate HCC are candidates for transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. However, not all patients with intermediate HCC benefit from transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. Therefore, it is meaningful to propose a novel staging system of intermediate HCC in order to allocate different treatments for different subgroups. Bolondi et al proposed the first subclassification system of intermediate HCC. Subsequently, investigators performed studies to validate the feasibility of Bolondi^’ s criteria and proposed several novel staging systems. The present study reviewed the literatures and provided a general overview of the evolution and current status of the subclassification of intermediate HCC. We propose to expand the indication of liver resection and add radical treatments as the first option of the treatment for patients with intermediate HCC.

BCLC-B Subclassification and the Hong Kong Liver Cancer System in Intermediate Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Identifying Candidates for Curative Therapy

INTRODUCTION

The intermediate stage of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification includes a heterogenous population of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and palliative treatment with transarterial chemoembolization is recommended for all of them. In this regard, 2 other classifications could be useful, the subclassification BCLC-B (SUB) and the classification Hong Kong Liver Cancer (HKLC).

OBJECTIVE

To determine the indication of curative or palliative treatment between SUB and HKLC in BCLC-B patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective study in HCC patients seen between 2011 and 2016 in southern Brazil. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected. HCC staging was performed with BCLC, SUB, and HKLC.

RESULTS

A total of 570 patients with HCC were assessed, of whom 95 were classified as BCLC-B: 25 (26.0%) B1, 48 (50.5%) B2, 9 (9.5%) B3, and 13 (13.7%) B4. Overall median survival was 21.1 (95% confidence interval, 14.2-28.0) months. Median survival was higher for BCLC-B1 patients than in subgroups B3 (P=0.046) and B4 (P=0.001), and this was also seen for B2 versus B4 (P=0.044). Regarding the HKLC classification, a significantly higher median survival was observed for HKLC-I and HKLC-IIB in relation to the categories HKLC-IIIA (P<0.001 and 0.004, respectively) and HKLC-IIIB (P<0.001 and 0.006, respectively). When HKLC was applied, the following were identified as candidates for curative treatment: BCLC-B1, 24 (96.0%); BCLC-B2, 26 (54.2%); BCLC-B3, 0 (0%); and BCLC-B4, 3 (23.1%).

CONCLUSION

In intermediate HCC, SUB was able to identify a subset of patients with a higher overall survival. According to HKLC, 55.8% of BCLC-B patients could receive curative treatment.

Hepatocellular carcinoma staging systems: Hong Kong liver cancer vs Barcelona clinic liver cancer in a Western population

BACKGROUND

Despite being the world's most widely used system for staging and therapeutic guidance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment, the Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) system has limitations, especially regarding intermediate-grade (BCLC-B) tumors. The recently proposed Hong Kong liver cancer (HKLC) staging system appears useful but requires validation in Western populations.

AIM

To evaluate the agreement between BCLC and HKLC staging on the management of HCC in a Western population, estimating the overall patient survival.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study of HCC patients treated at a university hospital in southern Brazil between 2011 and 2016. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected. HCC staging was carried out according to the HKLC and BCLC systems to assess treatment agreement. Overall survival was estimated based on the treatment proposed in each system.

RESULTS

A total of 519 HCC patients were assessed. Of these, 178 (34.3%) were HKLC-I; 95 (18.3%) HKLC-IIA; 47 (9.1%) HKLC-IIB; 29 (5.6%) HKLC-IIIA; 30 (5.8%) HKLC-IIIB; 75 (14.4%) HKLC-IV; and 65 (12.5%) HKLC-V. According to the BCLC, 25 (4.9%) were BCLC-0; 246 (47.4%) BCLC-A; 107 (20.6%) BCLC-B; 76 (14.6%) BCLC-C; and 65 (12.5%) BCLC-D. The general agreement between the two systems was 80.0% - BCLC-0 and HKLC-I (100%); BCLC-A and HKLC-I/HKLC-II (96.7%); BCLC-B and HKLC-III (46.7%); BCLC-C and HKLC-IV (98.7%); BCLC-D and HKLC-V (41.5%). When sub-classifying BCLC-A, HKLC-IIB, HKLC-IIIA and HKLC-IIIB stages according to the up-to-7 in/out criterion, 13.4, 66.0, 100 and 36.7%, respectively, of the cases were classified as up-to-7 out.

CONCLUSION

In a Western population, the general agreement between the two systems was 80.0%, although in BCLC-B cases the agreement was low, suggesting that some individuals could be candidates for the curative treatment recommended by the HKLC. The authors suggest that the BCLC system should be routinely employed, although for BCLC-B cases it should be associated with the HKLC system.

Patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stages B and C Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Time for a Subclassification

BACKGROUND

The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) intermediate and advanced stages (BCLC B and C) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) both include heterogeneous populations. Patients classified as BCLC stage B present with different tumour burdens, and the recommended treatment is transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). A similar heterogeneity of tumour burden and liver function can be found among patients classified as BCLC stage C, which includes diverse clinical features (performance status [PS] 1-2), macrovascular invasion (MVI) including portal vein tumour (PVT) thrombosis, and/or extra-hepatic spread. Nonetheless, the anti-tumoural treatment formally recommended by Western guidelines is systemic therapy with sorafenib.

SUMMARY

Several proposals of subclassification for both these stages have been suggested in recent years, differentiating the more appropriate treatments for each substage. In particular, for BCLC stage C patients with PVT, therapeutic indications, clinical outcomes, and response to locoregional therapy are notably different in the presence of subsegmental, segmental or main PVT. Accordingly, liver resection and transarterial therapies, such as TACE or transarterial embolization (TAE) and 90Y-radioembolization (TARE), can be performed in locally advanced HCC with intrahepatic MVI according to its extent. In fact, surgery and TACE/TAE/TARE have no contraindications in the presence of PVT limited to the subsegmental or segmental branches in Child-Pugh class A patients, whereas only TARE should be utilized when there is lobar branch involvement. The presence of PS 1 should not be sufficient to allocate patients to the advanced stage since this would preclude any potential treatment for HCC. Patients should be properly classified as BCLC C only in cases of main portal trunk PVT, and treated according to the guidelines, provided that they belong to Child-Pugh class A.

KEY MESSAGES

Subclassifications of BCLC B and C stages are urgently needed and require validation in order to guide clinicians towards the most effective treatment option.

Transarterial radioembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma of intermediate B2 substage

PURPOSE

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of intermediate stage (BCLC-B according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification) are a heterogeneous group with different degrees of liver function impairment and tumour burden. The recommended treatment is transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). However, patients in this group may be judged as poor candidates for TACE because the risk-benefit ratio is low. Such patients may receive transarterial radioembolization (TARE) only by entering a clinical trial. Experts have proposed that the stage could be further divided into four substages based on available evidence of treatment benefit. We report here, for the first time, the outcome in patients with BCLC-B2 substage HCC treated with TARE.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of the survival of 126 patients with BCLC-B2 substage HCC treated with TARE in three European hospitals was performed.

RESULTS

Overall median survival in patients with BCLC-B2 substage was not significantly different in relation to tumour characteristics; 19.35 months (95% CI 8.27-30.42 months) in patients with a single large (>7 cm) HCC, and 18.43 months (95% CI 15.08-21.77 months) in patients with multinodular HCC (p = 0.27). However, there was a higher proportion of long-term survivors at 36 months among those with a single large tumour (29%) than among those with multiple tumours (16.8%).

CONCLUSION

Given the poor efficacy of TACE in treating patients with BCLC-B2 substage HCC, TARE treatment could be a better choice, especially in those with a large tumour.

Proposal for subclassification to select patients for hepatectomy with intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma and Child-Pugh A liver function: A double-center study from China

Increasing evidence has shown that hepatectomy provides a longer overall survival (OS) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the intermediate stage. Unfortunately, not all patients benefit from liver resection, even if hepatectomy is feasible. This study aimed to propose a subclassification to select patients for surgical resection.OS of patients with intermediate-stage HCC who underwent hepatectomy at Beijing Friendship Hospital or Peking Union Medical College Hospital were reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the results of survival analysis. The prognosis of these patients was compared with that in those who were treated by trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in each subgroup.A total of 259 patients with intermediate-stage HCC who were initially treated by hepatectomy were included. Multivariate analysis showed that cumulative tumor size and tumor number independently affected tumor recurrence and survival time of these patients. Patients were then divided into group A (tumor size <11 cm and tumor number < 4; n = 205) and group B (tumor size ≥11 cm and tumor number ≥ 4; n = 54). Multivariate analysis showed that hepatectomy was independently associated with longer OS compared with TACE in patients in group A (hazard ratio = 0.67, 95% confidence interval = 0.49-0.90), but not in group B.Surgical management of intermediate-stage HCC should be performed with more complexity than current practice. Hepatic resection could be considered as the first-line treatment only for patients with HCC who have a cumulative tumor size of less than 11 cm and <4 tumors.

Review article: delivering precision oncology in intermediate-stage liver cancer

BACKGROUND

Intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), for which trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) constitutes the standard of care, is a patient subgroup with significant heterogeneity in clinical outcome. Sources of variation relate to differences in tumour burden, hepatic reserve, ethnicity and treatment modalities. Increasing research efforts have been dedicated to minimise the clinical diversity of this patient population and enhance optimal provision of treatment.

AIM

To comprehensively review the diverse prognostic models that have been proposed to refine the prognostic prediction of patients with HCC undergoing TACE.

RESULTS

A number of prognostic algorithms (HAP, ART, ABCR score and many others) have shown potential to address the clinical heterogeneity characterising patients with intermediate-stage HCC and facilitate early identification of patients with poor prognostic features in whom alternative treatments or best supportive care might be more appropriate than TACE.

CONCLUSIONS

While an improved characterisation of intermediate-stage HCC is a highly important clinical aim, current evidence suggests that novel prognostic algorithms in this patient population may offer potential benefits but non-negligible challenges in the provision of TACE. This review summarises the currently available evidence to facilitate the development of precision oncology in intermediate-stage HCC.

Complete genome sequencing and clinical analysis of intrahepatic hepatitis B virus cccDNA from HCC

BACKGROUND

More than half of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) are etiologically attributed to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, but it remains unclear whether HBV mutations are virological factors that contribute to formation of HCC or instead reflect accumulation during the progression of HBV-related disease.

METHODS

Rolling-cycle amplification and PCR sequencing were used to characterize covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) mutations in tumor tissues. Paired non-tumor tissues were used as controls.

RESULTS

High frequencies of C1653T, T1753V, and A1762T/G1764A cccDNA mutations were observed in both tumor and non-tumor tissues. T1719G, C1329A, and T3098C mutations were related to the overall survival of HCC patients. Patients with G1719 tended to be in the high Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage and had lower levels of total DNA and cccDNA per cell than patients with T1719. Additionally, in vitro analysis revealed that T1719G mutation reduced viral replication efficacy. Finally, significantly higher levels of preoperative alpha-fetoprotein were observed in patients harboring the G1078T, C1653T, G1727A, C1913A, T1978C, or C3116T mutations at the cccDNA level.

CONCLUSIONS

We speculated that HBV cccDNA mutations accumulated over the course of HBV-related disease development, and that some key mutations had prognostic value for patients with HBV-related HCC.

Subclassification of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer B and C hepatocellular carcinoma: A cohort study of the multicenter registry database

BACKGROUND AND AIM

We aimed to subclassify hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer intermediate and advanced stages, which include a highly heterogeneous population.

METHODS

From two registries ("random" and "voluntary" cohorts in the Korean Liver Cancer Study Group), patients who were newly diagnosed as HCC with intermediate or advanced stage between 2003 and 2005 were considered eligible. Overall survival (OS) was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method with comparison by log-rank test.

RESULTS

Patients with intermediate-stage HCC (n = 994) were subclassified according to tumor size and Child-Pugh class. Patients with tumor size < 5 cm (B1), those with tumor size ≥ 5 cm and Child-Pugh A (B2), and those with tumor size ≥ 5 cm and Child-Pugh B (B3) had median OS of 30.73, 20.60, and 9.23 months, respectively (P < 0.001 by log-rank test). Among patients with advanced stage HCC (n = 1746), patients were subclassified according to presence of significant portal vein invasion (sPVI; defined as portal vein invasion in lobar, main, or contralateral branch) and extrahepatic spread (EHS). Patients with neither sPVI nor EHS (C1), those with either sPVI or EHS (C2), and those with both sPVI and EHS (C3) had median OS of 8.43, 4.63, and 3.63 months, respectively (P < 0.001 by log-rank test).

CONCLUSION

Subclassification of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer intermediate and advanced stages might be useful for determining patient prognosis and guiding treatment strategies for HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma: Where are we?

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second cause of death due to malignancy in the world, following lung cancer. The geographic distribution of this disease accompanies its principal risk factors: Chronic hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection, alcoholism, aflatoxin B1 intoxication, liver cirrhosis, and some genetic attributes. Recently, type II diabetes has been shown to be a risk factor for HCC together with obesity and metabolic syndrome. Although the risk factors are quite well known and it is possible to diagnose HCC when the tumor is less than 1 cm diameter, it remains elusive at the beginning and treatment is often unsuccessful. Liver transplantation is thus far considered the best treatment for HCC as it cures HCC and the underlying liver disease. Using the Milan criteria, overall survival after liver transplantation for HCC is about 70% after 5 years. Many attempts have been made to go beyond the Milan Criteria and according to recent works reasonably good results have been achieved by using a histochemical marker such as cytokeratine 19 and the so-called "up to seven criteria" to divide patients into categories according to their risk of relapse. In addition to liver transplantation other therapies have been proposed such as resection, tumor ablation by different means, embolization and chemotherapy. An important step in the treatment of advanced HCC has been the introduction of sorafenib, the first oral, systemic drug that has provided significant improvement in survival. Treatment of HCC patients must be multidisciplinary and by using the different approaches discussed in this review it is possible to offer prolonged survival and quite good and sometimes even excellent quality of life to many patients.

Subclassification of BCLC B Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Treatment Strategies: Proposal of Modified Bolondi's Subclassification (Kinki Criteria)

Intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a very heterogeneous tumor in terms of tumor size (>3 cm ∼ over 10 cm), tumor number (4 ∼ over 20) and liver function (Child-Pugh score 5-9). However, transarterial chemoembolization is the only recommended treatment option according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging. Bolondi's subclassification of BCLC B stage is feasible; however, there are several weak points. Therefore, by modifying Bolondi's subclassification, we have proposed a more simplified subclassification, Kinki criteria. The Kinki criteria consist of 2 factors: liver function (Child-Pugh score 5-7 or 8, 9) and tumor status (Beyond Milan and within up-to-7 criteria; IN and OUT). The Kinki criteria classifies BCLC B stage from B1 (Child-Pugh score 5-7 and within up-to-7), B2 (Child-Pugh score 5-7 and beyond up-to-7) and B3 (Child-Pugh score 8, 9 and any tumor status). These criteria are simple and easy to apply to clinical practice. Therefore, these criteria will stratify the heterogeneous population of BCLC B group patient well and give the treatment indication according to each substage. These criteria should be further validated both retrospectively and prospectively.

Transarterial Embolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Comparison between Nonspherical PVA and Microspheres

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and transarterial embolization (TAE) have improved the survival rates of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the optimal TACE/TAE embolic agent has not yet been identified. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of two different embolic agents such as microspheres (ME) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on survival, tumor response, and complications in patients with HCC submitted to transarterial embolization (TAE). Eighty HCC patients who underwent TAE between June 2008 and December 2012 at a single center were retrospectively studied. A total of 48 and 32 patients were treated with PVA and ME, respectively. There were no significant differences in survival (P = 0.679) or tumoral response (P = 0.369) between groups (PVA or ME). Overall survival rates at 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 months were 97.9, 88.8, 78.9, 53.4, and 21.4% in the PVA-TAE group and 100, 92.9, 76.6, 58.8, and 58% in the ME-TAE group (P = 0.734). Patients submitted to TAE with ME presented postembolization syndrome more frequently when compared with the PVA group (P = 0.02). According to our cohort, the choice of ME or PVA as embolizing agent had no significant impact on overall survival.