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Original Article

Arterial blood supply of hepatocellular carcinoma is

associated with efficacy of sorafenib therapy

1
1
1
2
1
Xiang-Hua Zhang , Qian Zhu , Jing Li , Liang Huang , Jian-Jun Yan , Feng Xu ,
1
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Jun Li , Yi-Qun Yan 1
1 Department of Hepatic Surgery I, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China.
2 Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Jingmen First People’s Hospital, Jingmen 448000, Hubei, China.
ABSTRACT
Aim: There are some previous reports concerning the relationship between prognosis of patients treated with sorafenib
and parameters of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study presents monocentric
experience with sorafenib in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and will try to identify predictive factors
for survival based on the correlation of results from imaging and survival. Methods: A total of 38 HCC patients treated from
April 2009 to December 2010 with sorafenib were included in this study. HCCs were classified as good arterial supply and
poor arterial supply according to the enhancement intensity on CT scan or MRI. Clinical data were collected and survival time
was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. A Cox’s regression model was performed to reveal predictive factors for survival.
Results: Among the 38 patients treated with sorafenib, mean age was 53.3 ± 11.1 years and 35 (92.1%) were males. Tumors
in 17 patients were classified as good arterial supply, while the remaining 21 patients belonged to poor arterial supply. The
median survival time (MST) was 10.7 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 8.7-12.7] and the 1-year overall survival (OS) was
41.0%. The MST and 1-year OS in patients with a good arterial supply of tumors were 12 months (range: 4-20 months) and
52.9%, compared with that of 7 months (range: 1-16 months) and 23.8% in patients with a poor arterial supply of tumors (P =
0.002). Patients who had tumors at Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B had longer MST and higher OS than those
who had tumors at BCLC stage C, but there was no statistical difference between these two stages. On multivariate analysis,
only arterial supply of the tumors remained statistically predictive for OS (hazard ratios 0.22, 95% CI, 0.07-0.67, P = 0.008).
Conclusion: Arterial blood supply is an independent predictor for survival in patients treated with sorafenib, and patients with
a good arterial supply of tumors benefit more than those with a poor arterial supply of tumors.

Key words: Arterial blood supply; hepatocellular carcinoma; sorafenib

Address for correspondence:
Prof. Yi-Qun Yan, Department of Hepatic Surgery I, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China.
E-mail: ehbhyyq@163.com
Received: 09-07-2015, Accepted: 09-11-2015

INTRODUCTION surgical therapy (resection and liver transplantation)
and locoregional therapy (radiofrequency ablation).
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most For patients with advanced HCC, curative therapies
common cancer and the third most frequent cause
[1]
of cancer-related death. Only about 15% patients cannot be applied, and only systemic therapy is
with HCC are suitable for curative treatment, such as
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DOI: How to cite this article: Zhang XH, Zhu Q, Li J, Huang L, Yan JJ, Xu F, Li
10.4103/2394-5079.170542 J, Yan YQ. Arterial blood supply of hepatocellular carcinoma is associated
with efficacy of sorafenib therapy. Hepatoma Res 2016;2:87-91.

87 © 2016 Hepatoma Research | Published by OAE Publishing Inc.