Angiotensin II receptor inhibition ameliorates liver fibrosis and enhances hepatocellular carcinoma infiltration by effector T cells.

Although viral hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is declining, nonviral HCC, which often is the end stage of nonalcoholic or alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH, ASH), is on an upward trajectory. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that block the T cell inhibitory receptor PD-1 were approved for treatment of all HCC types. However, only a minority of HCC patients show a robust and sustained response to PD-1 blockade, calling for improved understanding of factors that negatively impact response rate and duration and the discovery of new adjuvant treatments that enhance ICI responsiveness. Using a mouse model of NASH-driven HCC, we identified peritumoral fibrosis as a potential obstacle to T cell-mediated tumor regression and postulated that antifibrotic medications may increase ICI responsiveness. We now show that the angiotensin II receptor inhibitor losartan, a commonly prescribed and safe antihypertensive drug, reduced liver and peritumoral fibrosis and substantially enhanced anti-PD-1-induced tumor regression. Although losartan did not potentiate T cell reinvigoration, it substantially enhanced HCC infiltration by effector CD8+ T cells compared to PD-1 blockade alone. The beneficial effects of losartan correlated with blunted TGF-ß receptor signaling, reduced collagen deposition, and depletion of immunosuppressive fibroblasts.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Immunotherapy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Single-agent anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) demonstrated promising efficacy in early-phase trials, a finding that was not confirmed in phase III studies. The combination of atezolizumab (an anti-PD-L1 ICI) with bevacizumab (an anti-VEGF antibody) was approved as first-line therapy in 2020, however, with significant improvement in response rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival in comparison with the previous standard of care, sorafenib. Numerous ongoing clinical trials are assessing ICIs in combination with each other or with targeted agents, and also in earlier stages with local therapies. This review summarizes the latest concepts in the use of ICIs for the management of HCC.

Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab versus active surveillance in patients with resected or ablated high-risk hepatocellular carcinoma (IMbrave050): a randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: No adjuvant treatment has been established for patients who remain at high risk for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after curative-intent resection or ablation. We aimed to assess the efficacy of adjuvant atezolizumab plus bevacizumab versus active surveillance in patients with high-risk hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: In the global, open-label, phase 3 IMbrave050 study, adult patients with high-risk surgically resected or ablated hepatocellular carcinoma were recruited from 134 hospitals and medical centres in 26 countries in four WHO regions (European region, region of the Americas, South-East Asia region, and Western Pacific region). Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio via an interactive voice-web response system using permuted blocks, using a block size of 4, to receive intravenous 1200 mg atezolizumab plus 15 mg/kg bevacizumab every 3 weeks for 17 cycles (12 months) or to active surveillance. The primary endpoint was recurrence-free survival by independent review facility assessment in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04102098. FINDINGS: The intention-to-treat population included 668 patients randomly assigned between Dec 31, 2019, and Nov 25, 2021, to either atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (n=334) or to active surveillance (n=334). At the prespecified interim analysis (Oct 21, 2022), median duration of follow-up was 17·4 months (IQR 13·9-22·1). Adjuvant atezolizumab plus bevacizumab was associated with significantly improved recurrence-free survival (median, not evaluable [NE]; [95% CI 22·1-NE]) compared with active surveillance (median, NE [21·4-NE]; hazard ratio, 0·72 [adjusted 95% CI 0·53-0·98]; p=0·012). Grade 3 or 4 adverse events occurred in 136 (41%) of 332 patients who received atezolizumab plus bevacizumab and 44 (13%) of 330 patients in the active surveillance group. Grade 5 adverse events occurred in six patients (2%, two of which were treatment related) in the atezolizumab plus bevacizumab group, and one patient (<1%) in the active surveillance group. Both atezolizumab and bevacizumab were discontinued because of adverse events in 29 patients (9%) who received atezolizumab plus bevacizumab. INTERPRETATION: Among patients at high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence following curative-intent resection or ablation, recurrence-free survival was improved in those who received atezolizumab plus bevacizumab versus active surveillance. To our knowledge, IMbrave050 is the first phase 3 study of adjuvant treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma to report positive results. However, longer follow-up for both recurrence-free and overall survival is needed to assess the benefit-risk profile more fully. FUNDING: F Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech.

Development of a Novel Comprehensive Hepatocellular Carcinoma Outcome Prognostic Scoring System With Integration of Imaging Features.

BACKGROUND: Accurate prognostic stratification of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is vital for clinical trial enrollment and treatment allocation. Multiple scoring systems have been created to predict patient survival, but no standardized scoring systems account for radiologic tumor features. We sought to create a generalizable scoring system for HCC which incorporates standardized radiologic tumor features and more accurately predicts overall survival (OS) than established systems. METHODS: Clinicopathologic parameters were collected from a prospectively collected cohort of patients with HCC treated at a single institution. Imaging studies were evaluated for tumor characteristics. Patients were randomly divided into a training set for identification of covariates that impacted OS and a validation set. Cox models were used to determine the association of various factors with OS and a scoring system was created. RESULTS: We identified 383 patients with HCC with imaging and survival outcomes, n = 255 in the training set and 128 in the validation cohort. Factors associated with OS on multivariate analysis included: tumor margin appearance on CT or MRI (hazard ratio [HR] 1.37, 95% CI, 1.01-1.88) with infiltrative margins portending worse outcomes than encapsulated margins, massive tumor morphology (HR 1.64, 95% CI, 1.06-2.54); >2 lesions (HR 2.06, 95% CI, 1.46-2.88), Child-Turcotte-Pugh class C (HR 3.7, 95% CI, 2.23-6.16), and portal vein thrombus (HR 2.41, 95% CI, 1.71-3.39). A new scoring system was developed and more predictive of OS than other well-established systems. CONCLUSIONS: Incorporation of standardized imaging characteristics to established clinical and lab predictors of outcome resulted in an improved predictive scoring system for patients with HCC.

Phase 1 trial of navitoclax and sorafenib in patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors with hepatocellular carcinoma expansion cohort.

Navitoclax (ABT-263) is an oral BCL2 homology-3 mimetic that binds with high affinity to pro-survival BCL2 proteins, resulting in apoptosis. Sorafenib, an oral multi kinase inhibitor also promotes apoptosis and inhibits tumor angiogenesis. The efficacy of either agent alone is limited; however, preclinical studies demonstrate synergy with the combination of navitoclax and sorafenib. In this phase 1 study, we evaluated the combination of navitoclax and sorafenib in a dose escalation cohort of patients with refractory solid tumors, with an expansion cohort in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was determined using the continual reassessment method. Navitoclax and sorafenib were administered continuously on days 1 through 21 of 21-day cycles. Ten patients were enrolled in the dose escalation cohort and 15 HCC patients were enrolled in the expansion cohort. Two dose levels were tested, and the MTD was navitoclax 150 mg daily plus sorafenib 400 mg twice daily. Among all patients, the most common grade 3 toxicity was thrombocytopenia (5 patients, 20%): there were no grade 4 or 5 toxicities. Patients received a median of 2 cycles (range 1-36 cycles) and all patients were off study treatment at data cut off. Six patients in the expansion cohort had stable disease, and there were no partial or complete responses. Drug-drug interaction between navitoclax and sorafenib was not observed. The combination of navitoclax and sorafenib did not increase induction of apoptosis compared with navitoclax alone. Navitoclax plus sorafenib is tolerable but showed limited efficacy in the HCC expansion cohort. These findings do not support further development of this combination for the treatment of advanced HCC. This phase I trial was conducted under ClinicalTrials.gov registry number NCT01364051.

Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab showed encouraging antitumor activity and safety in a phase 1b trial involving patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS: In a global, open-label, phase 3 trial, patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who had not previously received systemic treatment were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive either atezolizumab plus bevacizumab or sorafenib until unacceptable toxic effects occurred or there was a loss of clinical benefit. The coprimary end points were overall survival and progression-free survival in the intention-to-treat population, as assessed at an independent review facility according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1). RESULTS: The intention-to-treat population included 336 patients in the atezolizumab-bevacizumab group and 165 patients in the sorafenib group. At the time of the primary analysis (August 29, 2019), the hazard ratio for death with atezolizumab-bevacizumab as compared with sorafenib was 0.58 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 to 0.79; P<0.001). Overall survival at 12 months was 67.2% (95% CI, 61.3 to 73.1) with atezolizumab-bevacizumab and 54.6% (95% CI, 45.2 to 64.0) with sorafenib. Median progression-free survival was 6.8 months (95% CI, 5.7 to 8.3) and 4.3 months (95% CI, 4.0 to 5.6) in the respective groups (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.76; P<0.001). Grade 3 or 4 adverse events occurred in 56.5% of 329 patients who received at least one dose of atezolizumab-bevacizumab and in 55.1% of 156 patients who received at least one dose of sorafenib. Grade 3 or 4 hypertension occurred in 15.2% of patients in the atezolizumab-bevacizumab group; however, other high-grade toxic effects were infrequent. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, atezolizumab combined with bevacizumab resulted in better overall and progression-free survival outcomes than sorafenib. (Funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03434379.).

Prevention of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). White Paper of the Texas Collaborative Center for Hepatocellular Cancer (TeCH) Multi-stakeholder Conference.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Texas has the highest age-adjusted incidence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has funded the Texas Collaborative Center for Hepatocellular Cancer (TeCH) to facilitate HCC research, education, and advocacy activities with the overall goal of reducing HCC mortality in Texas through coordination, collaboration, and advocacy. METHODS: On September 17, 2022, TeCH co-sponsored a multi-stakeholder conference on HCC with the Baker Institute Center for Health and Biosciences. This conference was attended by HCC researchers, policy makers, payers, members from pharmaceutical industry and patient advocacy groups in and outside of Texas. This report summarizes the results of the conference. RESULTS: The goal of this meeting was to identify different strategies for preventing HCC and evaluate their readiness for implementation. CONCLUSIONS: We call for a statewide (1) viral hepatitis elimination program; (2) program to increase nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and obesity awareness; (3) research program to develop health care models that integrate alcohol associated liver disease treatment and treatment for alcohol use disorder; and (4) demonstration projects to evaluate the effectiveness of identifying and linking patient with advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis to clinical care.

Treatment Disparities Partially Mediate Socioeconomic- and Race/Ethnicity-Based Survival Disparities in Stage I-II Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Low socioeconomic status (SES) patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receive procedural treatments less often and have shorter survival. Little is known about the extent to which these survival disparities result from treatment-related disparities versus other causal pathways. We aimed to estimate the proportion of SES-based survival disparities that are mediated by treatment- and facility-related factors among patients with stage I-II HCC. METHODS: We analyzed patients aged 18-75 years diagnosed with stage I-II HCC in 2008-2016 using the National Cancer Database. Inverse odds weighting mediation analysis was used to calculate the proportion mediated by three mediators: procedure type, facility volume, and facility procedural interventions offered. Intersectional analyses were performed to determine whether treatment disparities played a larger role in survival disparities among Black and Hispanic patients. RESULTS: Among 46,003 patients, 15.0% had low SES, 71.6% had middle SES, and 13.4% had high SES. Five-year overall survival was 46.9%, 39.9%, and 35.7% among high, middle, and low SES patients, respectively. Procedure type mediated 45.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 31.1-60.7%) and 36.7% (95% CI 25.7-47.7%) of overall survival disparities for low and middle SES patients, respectively, which was more than was mediated by the two facility-level mediators. Procedure type mediated a larger proportion of survival disparities among low-middle SES Black (46.6-48.2%) and Hispanic patients (92.9-93.7%) than in White patients (29.5-29.7%). CONCLUSIONS: SES-based disparities in use of procedural interventions mediate a large proportion of survival disparities, particularly among Black and Hispanic patients. Initiatives aimed at attenuating these treatment disparities should be pursued.

Evaluating the benefit of surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma with multifocality or intrahepatic vascular invasion.

BACKGROUND: The role of hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with multifocality or intrahepatic vascular involvement remains ill-defined. Our objective was to evaluate benefits of surgical resection for patients with these high-risk features. METHODS: The National Cancer Database was used to identify HCC patients with vascular involvement and/or multifocality (T2/T3, N-/M-) from 2011 to 2015. Propensity score matching (k-nearest neighbors, no replacement, 1:1) grouped patients by treatment: surgical resection versus non-surgical modalities. Groups were matched using patient, clinical, and liver-specific characteristics. Median overall survival (OS) was calculated using Kaplan-Meier, and adjusted analyses were performed using shared frailty models. RESULTS: 14,557 patients met inclusion criteria, including 1892 (9.4%) treated with surgical resection. Median cohort OS was 20.5 months. After adjustment, surgical resection was associated with survival advantage compared to non-surgical treatment (37.8 versus 15.7 months, log-rank P < .001; adjusted hazard ratio 0.49, 95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.54). Patients with minimal comorbidity, unifocal disease, and age <54 had highest probability of survival one year post-surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical resection is associated with a survival advantage in HCC with multifocality and/or intrahepatic vascular involvement. The presence of these features should not contraindicate consideration of hepatectomy in suitable surgical candidates.

Updated efficacy and safety data from IMbrave150: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab vs. sorafenib for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: IMbrave150 demonstrated that atezolizumab plus bevacizumab led to significantly improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) compared with sorafenib in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma at the primary analysis (after a median 8.6 months of follow-up). We present updated data after 12 months of additional follow-up. METHODS: Patients with systemic treatment-naive, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma were randomized 2:1 to receive 1,200 mg atezolizumab plus 15 mg/kg bevacizumab intravenously every 3 weeks or 400 mg sorafenib orally twice daily in this open-label, phase III study. Co-primary endpoints were OS and PFS by independently assessed RECIST 1.1 in the intention-to-treat population. Secondary efficacy endpoints included objective response rates and exploratory subgroup efficacy analyses. This is a post hoc updated analysis of efficacy and safety. RESULTS: From March 15, 2018, to January 30, 2019, 501 patients (intention-to-treat population) were randomly allocated to receive atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (n = 336) or sorafenib (n = 165). On August 31, 2020, after a median 15.6 (range, 0-28.6) months of follow-up, the median OS was 19.2 months (95% CI 17.0-23.7) with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab and 13.4 months (95% CI 11.4-16.9) with sorafenib (hazard ratio [HR] 0.66; 95% CI 0.52-0.85; descriptive p <0.001). The median PFS was 6.9 (95% CI 5.7-8.6) and 4.3 (95% CI 4.0-5.6) months in the respective treatment groups (HR 0.65; 95% CI 0.53-0.81; descriptive p < 0.001). Treatment-related grade 3/4 adverse events occurred in 143 (43%) of 329 and 72 (46%) of 156 safety-evaluable patients in the respective groups, and treatment-related grade 5 events occurred in 6 (2%) and 1 (<1%) patients. CONCLUSION: After longer follow-up, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab maintained clinically meaningful survival benefits over sorafenib and had a safety profile consistent with the primary analysis. GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT03434379. LAY SUMMARY: The primary analysis of IMbrave150 showed that atezolizumab plus bevacizumab had significantly greater benefits than sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, but survival data were not yet mature. At this updated analysis done 12 months later, median overall survival was 5.8 months longer with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab than sorafenib, and the severity profile of treatment-related side effects remained similar. These updated results confirm atezolizumab plus bevacizumab as the first-line standard of care for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Dietary N-Nitroso Compounds and Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A USA-Based Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) are among the most potent dietary carcinogens. N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), and N-nitrosopiperidine (NPIP) are abundant in foods and carcinogenic to the liver. We investigated the relationship between dietary NOCs and HCC risk. APPROACH AND RESULTS: In this large, hospital-based, case-control study of 827 pathologically or radiologically confirmed HCC cases and 1,013 controls, NOC intake was calculated by linking food frequency questionnaire-derived dietary data with a comprehensive NOC concentration database. Multivariable-adjusted ORs and 95% CIs of HCC by quartiles of NOC consumption were estimated using logistic regression models, with the lowest quartile as the referent. We further investigated joint effects of consuming the highest quartile of NOCs that were associated with increased HCC risk and hepatitis, diabetes, or alcohol drinking on HCC risk. After adjustment for confounding factors, higher intake of NDEA from plant sources (ORQ4 vs. Q1  = 1.58; 95% CI = 1.03-2.41), NDMA from plant sources (ORQ4 vs. Q1  = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.01-2.34), and NPIP (ORQ4 vs. Q1  = 2.52; 95% CI = 1.62-3.94) was associated with increased HCC risk. No association was observed for nitrate or total NOC intake and HCC risk. Higher consumption of HCC-inducing NOCs and positive hepatitis virus status jointly increased the risk of developing HCC. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, though some of our findings may indicate the presence of reverse causation owing to lower meat intake among cases with chronic liver diseases before HCC diagnosis, the potent dietary HCC carcinogens, NDEA, NDMA, and NPIP, and their enhanced carcinogenic effects among chronic carriers of hepatitis virus warrant further prospective investigation.

Impact of Integrating Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Levels into Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Score for Survival Prediction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients.

BACKGROUND: Liver reserve affects survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score is used to predict overall survival (OS) and to prioritize HCC patients on the transplantation waiting list, but more accurate models are needed. We hypothesized that integrating insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels into MELD score (MELD-IGF-1) improves OS prediction as compared to MELD. METHODS: We measured plasma IGF-1 levels in training (n = 310) and validation (n = 155) HCC cohorts and created MELD-IGF-1 score. Cox models were used to determine the association of MELD and MELD-IGF-1 with OS. Harrell's c-index was used to compare the predictive capacity. RESULTS: IGF-1 was significantly associated with OS in both cohorts. Patients with an IGF-1 level of ≤26 ng/mL in the training cohort and in the validation cohorts had significantly higher hazard ratios than patients with the same MELD but IGF-1 >26 ng/mL. In both cohorts, MELD-IGF-1 scores had higher c-indices (0.60 and 0.66) than MELD scores (0.58 and 0.60) (p < 0.001 in both cohorts). Overall, 26% of training and 52.9% of validation cohort patients were reclassified into different risk groups by MELD-IGF-1 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: After independent validation, the MELD-IGF-1 could be used to risk-stratify patients in clinical trials and for priority assignment for patients on liver transplantation waiting list.

Characteristics of atypical large well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma: a specific subtype of hepatocellular carcinoma?

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) de-differentiation is thought to correlate with size, therefore well-differentiated HCC ≥3 cm are considered rare and not fully understood. METHODS: Patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC between 1998-2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Patient's characteristics and recurrence-free (RFS) and overall (OS) survival were compared between those with atypical- (well-differentiated-HCC ≥3 cm) and typical-HCC (moderate-to-poorly-differentiated HCC ≥3 cm). RESULTS: Of 176 patients included in this study, 37 (21%) had atypical-HCC. Patients with atypical-HCC were less likely to be Asian ethnicity (3% vs. 17%, p = 0.062), have lower rate of viral infection (14% vs. 43%, p = 0.003), cirrhosis (8% vs. 27%, p = 0.015). The tumors were less likely to demonstrate vascular invasion (30% vs. 59%, p = 0.002), and were associated with a lower alpha-fetoprotein level (3.5 ng/ml vs. 33.2 ng/ml, p < 0.001). Patients with atypical-HCC had a longer RFS (5-y RFS: 58.3% vs. 35.7%, p = 0.016) and OS (5-y OS: 79.1% vs 53.3%, p = 0.029) as compared to those with typical-HCC following univariate analysis, however this did not appear following multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Patients with atypical-HCC have different characteristic in terms of epidemiology, etiology, cirrhosis and vascular invasion as compared to typical-HCC. The etiology of atypical-HCC may be non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-related and/or malignant transformation of hepatocellular adenoma.

Automated Volumetric Assessment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Response to Sorafenib: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE: This pilot study evaluates the feasibility of automated volumetric quantification of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as an imaging biomarker to assess treatment response for sorafenib. METHODS: In this institutional review board-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant retrospective study, a training database of manually labeled background liver, enhancing and nonenhancing tumor tissue was established using pretherapy and first posttherapy multiphasic computed tomography images from a registry of 13 HCC patients. For each patient, Hounsfield density and geometry-based feature images were generated from registered multiphasic computed tomography data sets and used as the input for a random forest-based classifier of enhancing and nonenhancing tumor tissue. Leave-one-out cross-validation of the dice similarity measure was applied to quantify the classifier accuracy. A Cox regression model was used to confirm volume changes as predictors of time to progression (TTP) of target lesions for both manual and automatic methods. RESULTS: When compared with manual labels, an overall classification accuracy of dice similarity coefficient of 0.71 for pretherapy and 0.66 posttherapy enhancing tumor labels and 0.45 for pretherapy and 0.59 for posttherapy nonenhancing tumor labels was observed. Automated methods for quantifying volumetric changes in the enhancing lesion agreed with manual methods and were observed as a significant predictor of TTP. CONCLUSIONS: Automated volumetric analysis was determined to be feasible for monitoring HCC response to treatment. The information extracted using automated volumetrics is likely to reproduce labor-intensive manual data and provide a good predictor for TTP. Further work will extend these studies to additional treatment modalities and larger patient populations.

Comparative effectiveness of first-line radiofrequency ablation versus surgical resection and transplantation for patients with early hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Significant controversy exists as to which treatment modality is most effective for small, solitary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs): radiofrequency ablation (RFA), surgical resection (RXN), or transplantation (TXP). Size cutoff values ranging from 20 to 50 mm have been proposed to achieve complete ablation. The current study compares outcomes between RFA, RXN, and TXP as first-line therapy for patients with HCC tumors measuring as large as 50 mm. METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was queried for patients with HCC tumors measuring up to 50 mm who were treated with RFA, RXN, or TXP between 2004 and 2013. Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were examined in patients with tumors measuring ≤20 mm, 21 to 30 mm, or 31 to 50 mm. The impact of an increase in tumor size of only 5 mm beyond 30 mm was evaluated by also examining outcomes in patients with tumors measuring 31 to 35 mm. RESULTS: Of 1894 cases, patients with HCC tumors measuring ≤20 mm and 21 to 30 mm demonstrated no difference in OS or DSS regardless of whether RFA and RXN was used. RFA was associated with a worse OS and DSS than TXP, whereas there was no difference in OS observed between RXN and TXP. In patients with tumors measuring 31 to 50 mm, OS and DSS were worse with RFA compared with RXN or TXP. Most important, the inferior DSS and OS noted with RFA were observed with only a 5-mm increase in tumors measuring >30 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Although RFA frequently is used as first-line treatment of HCC tumors measuring as large as 50 mm, it is associated with worse results than RXN or TXP for tumors measuring >30 mm. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the results of the current study are the first to demonstrate that although RFA is an appropriate option for patients with HCC tumors measuring ≤30 mm, its use for tumors even slightly larger than 30 mm is associated with inferior outcomes. Cancer 2017;123:1817-1827. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Estrogen Replacement Reduces Risk and Increases Survival Times of Women With Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Environmental factors have been identified that affect risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but little is known about the effects of sex hormones on liver cancer development or outcome. The authors investigated whether menopause hormone therapy (MHT) affects risk, age at onset, or outcome of HCC. METHODS: We performed a case-control study of 234 female patients treated for HCC at a tertiary medical center and with 282 healthy women (controls) from January 1, 2004 through May 31, 2015. We collected detailed information on environmental exposures, ages of menarche and menopause, hysterectomies, and uses of birth control and MHT. We performed multivariable logistic and Cox regression analyses to determine the independent effects of factors associated with women on risk and clinical outcome in HCC. The primary outcomes were effect of MHT on HCC risk, the relationship between MHT with hepatitis virus infection on HCC development, and effect of MHT on age at HCC onset or survival after diagnosis of HCC. RESULTS: The estimated adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for HCC in women who ever used estrogen was 0.53 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32-0.88). This association was supported by the older age of HCC onset among estrogen users (mean, 64.5 ± 0.9 years) vs nonusers (mean 59.2 ± 1.1 years; P = .001) and the reduced risk of HCC among long-term users (more than 5 years) (AOR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.20-0.63). Users of estrogen also had a reduced risk for hepatitis-associated HCC: AOR for users, 4.37 (95% CI, 1.67-11.44) vs AOR for nonusers, 17.60 (95% CI, 3.88-79.83). Estrogen use reduced risk of death from HCC (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.40-0.77; P = .01). Median overall survival times were 33.5 months for estrogen users (95% CI, 25.7-41.3 months) and 24.1 months for nonusers (95% CI, 19.02-29.30 months; P = .008). CONCLUSION: In a case-control study of women with HCC vs female control subjects at a single center, we associated use of estrogen MHT with reduced risk of HCC and increased overall survival times of patients with HCC. Further studies are needed to determine the benefits of estrogen therapy for women and patients with HCC, and effects of tumor expression of estrogen receptor.

Natural History of T1N0M0 Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Large-Scale Study in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis depends on clinicopathological features in addition to the treatment provided. We aimed to assess the natural history of TNM stage I HCC tumors which received different treatment over a period of 20 years. METHODS: Between 1992 and 2011, a total of 397 stage I HCC patients were included. Detailed information was retrieved from MD Anderson Cancer Center patients' medical records. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate patients' overall survival (OS). Cox regression analysis was used to calculate the estimated hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval of different prognostic factors. RESULTS: Out of 397 patients, 67.5% were males, 42.8% had hepatitis-related HCC, and 59.7% had underlying cirrhosis. After adjustment for confounding factors, we found that all therapeutic modalities were associated with a significant mortality rate reduction with an OS of 63, 42.03, 34.3, and 22.1 months among patients treated with surgery, ablation, local, and systemic therapy, respectively. A restricted analysis of cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients showed that ablative and local therapy were significantly associated with a longer OS compared to systemic therapy. CONCLUSION: TNM stage I HCC patients have a favorable prognosis regardless of the type of treatment. Notably, ablative and local therapy significantly improved OS compared to systemic therapy.

Refining prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma through incorporation of metabolic imaging biomarkers.

PURPOSE: 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomopraphy/computed tomography (FDGPET/CT) has been proven to be useful for imaging many types of cancer; however, its role is not well defined in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We assessed the prognostic value of metabolic imaging biomarkers as established by baseline pretreatment FDG PET/CT in patients with HCC. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of patients with HCC who underwent FDG PET/CT before initial treatment from May 2013 through May 2014. Four PET/CT parameters were measured: maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), total lesion glycolysis (TLG), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and tumor-to-normal-liver SUV ratio (TNR). Optimal cut-off values for the PET/CT parameters to stratify patients in terms of overall survival (OS) were determined. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine whether the PET/CT parameters could add to the prognostic value of the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) scoring system and the Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system. RESULTS: The analysis included 56 patients. Univariate analysis of the association between OS and continuous variables, including the PET/CT parameters SUVmax, TLG, tumor size, total bilirubin level, and alkaline phosphatase level were significant predictors of OS. SUVmax ≥ 11.7, TLG ≥ 1,341, MTV ≥ 230 mL, and TNR ≥ 4.8 were identified as cut-off values. Multivariate analysis revealed that SUVmax ≥ 11.7 and TNR ≥ 4.8 were independent factors predicting a poor prognosis in both the CLIP scoring system and the BCLC staging system, as was TLG in the BCLC staging system. CONCLUSION: Pretreatment FDG PET/CT in patients with HCC can add to the prognostic value of standard clinical measures. Incorporation of imaging biomarkers derived from FDG PET/CT into HCC staging systems should be considered.

Validation of a Preclinical Model of Diethylnitrosamine-Induced Hepatic Neoplasia in Yucatan Miniature Pigs.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to reduce the time to tumor onset in a diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) swine model via partial liver embolization (PLE) and to characterize the model for use in translational research. METHODS: Eight Yucatan miniature pigs were injected intraperitoneally with either saline (n = 2) or DEN (n = 6) solution weekly for 12 weeks. Three of the DEN-treated pigs underwent PLE. The animals underwent periodic radiological evaluation, liver biopsy, and blood sampling, and full necropsy was performed at study termination (∼29 months). RESULTS: All DEN-treated pigs developed hepatic adenoma and HCC. PLE accelerated the time to adenoma development but not to HCC development. Biomarker analysis results showed that IGF1 levels decreased in all DEN-treated pigs as functional liver capacity decreased with progression of HCC. VEGF and IL-6 levels were positively correlated with disease progression. Immunohistochemical probing of HCC tissues demonstrated the expression of several important survival-promoting proteins. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, we are the first to demonstrate an accelerated development of hepatic neoplasia in Yucatan miniature pigs. Our HCC swine model closely mimics the human condition (i.e., progressive disease stages and expression of relevant molecular markers) and is a viable translational model.