Molecular targeted therapy and immunotherapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare and rank different targeted therapies or immunotherapies for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma based on efficacy. METHODS: A systematic search of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases was conducted. All systematic treatment regimens that reported comparisons with sorafenib were included in this analysis. The primary outcome measures were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), and other outcome measures included the objective response rate (ORR) and safety analysis according to reported treatment-related adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 29 RCTs involving 13376 patients were included in the analysis, including 10 single-agent therapies and 17 combination therapies. Compared with sorafenib, sintilimab plus IBI305 (HR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.43-0.75), camrelizumab plus rivoceranib (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.49-0.78), and atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (HR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.52-0.83) ranked in the top three in terms of OS. CONCLUSIONS: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF)-targeting drugs have shown better therapeutic effects in the systematic treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, and the combination of targeted and immune therapy modes should be further developed.

Prediction of outcomes by diffusion kurtosis imaging in patients with large (≥5 cm) hepatocellular carcinoma after liver resection: A retrospective study.

Purpose: To evaluate preoperative diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in predicting the outcomes of large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver resection (LR). Materials and methods: From January 2015 to December 2017, patients with a large (≥5cm) HCC who underwent preoperative DKI were retrospectively reviewed. The correlations of the mean kurtosis (MK), mean diffusivity (MD), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) with microvascular invasion (MVI) or histological grade were analyzed. Cox regression analyses were performed to identify the predictors of recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). A nomogram to predict RFS was established. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: A total of 97 patients (59 males and 38 females, 56.0 ± 10.9 years) were included in this study. The MK, MD, and ADC values were correlated with MVI or histological grade (P<0.01). With a median follow-up time of 41.2 months (range 12-69 months), 67 patients (69.1%) experienced recurrence and 41 patients (42.3%) were still alive. The median RFS and OS periods after LR were 29 and 45 months, respectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year RFS and OS rates were 88.7%, 41.2%, and 21.7% and 99.0%, 68.3%, and 25.6%, respectively. MK (P<0.001), PVT (P<0.001), and ADC (P=0.033) were identified as independent predictor factors for RFS. A nomogram including the MK value for RFS showed the best performance, and the C-index was 0.895. Conclusion: The MK value obtained from DKI is a potential predictive factor for recurrence and poor survival, which could provide valuable information for guiding the efficacy of LR in patients with large HCC.