Hepatocellular carcinoma and microbiota: Implications for clinical management and treatment.

Gut microbiota plays an essential role in host homeostasis. It is involved in several physiological processes such as nutrients digestion and absorption, maintenance of intestinal epithelial barrier integrity and immune system self-tolerance. Especially the gut microbiota is assumed to play a crucial role in many gastrointestinal, pancreatic and liver disorders.

Lenvatinib versus Sorafenib as first-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma: A multi-institutional matched case-control study.

Background: Advanced Hepatocarcinoma (HCC) is an important health problem worldwide. Recently, the REFLECT trial demonstrated the non-inferiority of Lenvatinib compared to Sorafenib in I line setting, thus leading to the approval of new first-line standard of care, along with Sorafenib.

Aims And Methods: With aim to evaluate the optimal choice between Sorafenib and Lenvatinib as primary treatment in clinical practice, we performed a multicentric analysis with the propensity score matching on 184 HCC patients.

Identification of lenvatinib prognostic index via recursive partitioning analysis in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: After the advent of new treatment options for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the identification of prognostic factors is crucial for the selection of the most appropriate therapy for each patient.

Patients And Methods: With the aim to fill this gap, we applied recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) to a cohort of 404 patients treated with lenvatinib.

Results: The application of RPA resulted in a classification based on five variables that originated a new prognostic score, the lenvatinib prognostic index (LEP) index, identifying three groups: low risk [patients with prognostic nutritional index (PNI) >43.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in the Treatment of HCC.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the typical inflammation-induced neoplasia. It often prospers where a chronic liver disease persists, thus leading a strong rationale for immune therapy. Several immune-based treatments, including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), cytokines, adoptive cell transfer, and vaccines, have been tested in the treatment of HCC.

Introducing immunotherapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients: Too early or too fast?

Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent liver cancer. Immunotherapy has been explored in this disease in order to improve survival outcomes. Nowadays, scientific research is focusing especially on immune checkpoint inhibitors, in particular anti-PD1, anti-PD-L1 and anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), as single-agent or in combination with other immunotherapy agents, target therapies, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and other agents targeting specific molecular pathways.