Addition of local hepatic therapy to sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (stage BCLC C).

Background/aims: For most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), diagnosis is invariably done only in the advanced stages of the disease. For advanced, non-metastatic stage, standard therapy is transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). For metastatic disease, the recommended therapy is systemic treatment with sorafenib.

Prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Validation and ranking of established staging-systems in a large western HCC-cohort.

Background: HCC is diagnosed in approximately half a million people per year, worldwide. Staging is a more complex issue than in most other cancer entities and, mainly due to unique geographic characteristics of the disease, no universally accepted staging system exists to date. Focusing on survival rates we analyzed demographic, etiological, clinical, laboratory and tumor characteristics of HCC-patients in our institution and applied the common staging systems.

Relation of gallbladder motility to viscosity and composition of gallbladder bile in patients with cholesterol gallstones.

Background/aims: Increased viscosity and supersaturation of cholesterol in gallbladder bile, as well as an impaired motility of the gallbladder, are considered to be important factors in the pathogenesis of cholesterol gallstones. However, the relation of these parameters has not yet been determined.

Material And Methods: Bile viscosity (mPa s) was measured by rotation viscosimetry and the composition of gallbladder bile was determined using standard methodology.

Chemoembolization combined with pravastatin improves survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/aims: Pravastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor, has been shown to inhibit growth and to induce apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. However, the potential benefit of pravastatin in HCC patients has still not been characterized, which prompted us to test the efficacy of pravastatin in patients with advanced HCC.

Methods: We investigated prospectively a cohort of 183 HCC patients who had been selected for palliative treatment by transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Liver resection or combined chemoembolization and radiofrequency ablation improve survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/aims: To evaluate the long-term outcome of surgical and non-surgical local treatments of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: We stratified a cohort of 278 HCC patients using six independent predictors of survival according to the Vienna survival model for HCC (VISUM-HCC).

Results: Prior to therapy, 224 HCC patients presented with VISUM stage 1 (median survival 18 months) while 29 patients were classified as VISUM stage 2 (median survival 4 months) and 25 patients as VISUM stage 3 (median survival 3 months).