Pathological complete response after conversion therapy in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma is a highly lethal tumor worldwide, and China has a correspondingly high incidence and mortality rate. For patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, the prognosis is often poor. The objective of this retrospective study was to investigate the effects of conversion therapies on these patients. METHODS: The study included patients between the ages of 18 and 75 who were initially diagnosed with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma and received conversion therapy. After completing surgery, the patients underwent pathological diagnosis, which showed complete necrosis. The study was conducted retrospectively at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, from January 2019 to December 2021. The main objectives of the study were to evaluate the overall survival and recurrence-free survival. RESULTS: A total of 60 patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. The median age of the patients was 56.6 ± 9.5 years, and 85% of them were male. The one-year overall survival rate (OS) was 98.3%, and the three-year OS was 95.6%. The one-year recurrence-free survival rate (RFS) was 81.1%, and the three-year RFS was 71.4%. In subgroup analysis, there was no statistically significant difference in RFS between patients with BCLC stages 0-A and BCLC stages B-C (p = 0.296). Additionally, there was no statistically significant difference in RFS between patients who received postoperative new adjuvant therapy and those who did not (p = 0.324). CONCLUSIONS: Conversion therapy followed by surgical resection could be a promising treatment for patients with initially unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, and the prognosis is good with a pathological complete response.

A Nature-Derived, Hetero-Structured, Pro-Healing Bioadhesive Patch for High-Performance Sealing of Wet Tissues.

Tissue adhesives are promising alternatives to sutures and staples to achieve wound closure and hemostasis. However, they often do not work well on tissues that are soaked in blood or other biological fluids, and organs that are typically exposed to a variety of harsh environments such as different pH values, nonhomogeneous distortions, continuous expansions and contractions, or high pressures. In this study, a nature-derived multilayered hetero-bioadhesive patch (skin secretion of Andrias davidianus (SSAD)-Patch) based on hydrophilic/hydrophobic pro-healing bioadhesives derived from the SSAD is developed, which is designed to form pressure-triggered strong adhesion with wet tissues. The SSAD-Patch is successfully applied for the sealing and healing of tissue defects within 10 s in diverse extreme injury scenarios in vivo including rat stomach perforation, small intestine perforation, fetal membrane defect, porcine carotid artery incision, and lung lobe laceration. The findings reveal a promising new type of self-adhesive regenerative SSAD-Patch, which is potentially adaptable to broad applications (under different pH values and air or liquid pressures) in sutureless wound sealing and healing.