Aim/background: The ultimate aim of any treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is to improve overall survival (OS); however, the clinical significance of time to progression (TTP) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is unclear. This retrospective study examined the association between OS and the newly defined time to TACE progression (TTTP) to assess whether TTTP can be an alternative to OS in HCC patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B.
Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2013, 592 patients with HCC (BCLC B1, = 118; BCLC B2, = 170) underwent TACE.
The patient was a 20-year-old male in whom a hepatic hypervascular mass accompanied by intratumoral hemorrhage was detected on examination for epigastric pain. Based on the enlargement of the mass and diagnostic imaging, hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) was suspected and hepatectomy was performed. The lesion was diagnosed as malignant transformation of β-catenin-activated HCA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To compare contrast tissue harmonic imaging (THI) with low mechanical index (MI) and conventional contrast harmonic imaging (CHI) with respect to lesion visibility of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods: One hundred and twenty-five patients (84 men and 41 women, age range 39-94 years, mean age 74 years) with 100 naïve HCCs and 30 lesions after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for HCC were evaluated. One hundred and four patients had liver cirrhosis of Child-Pugh class A, and the remaining 21 had Child-Pugh class B cirrhosis.
Introduction: Recently, the treatment of chronic hepatitis C has markedly advanced. A phase III clinical study of combination therapy with sofosbuvir (SOF) and ledipasvir (LDV) was conducted in Japan, and the additive therapeutic effects were reported. In this study, we report the results of treatment in our hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The standard treatment option that is available for patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). However, the condition of the patients with BCLC stage B disease is heterogeneous showing different tumor statuses and Child-Pugh scores; treatment strategies other than TACE are frequently employed for the patients in this stage. Based on the subclassification system proposed by Bolondi et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Refractory ascites reduces the quality of life of liver cirrhosis patients. Albumin preparation and diuretics, such as furosemide, have been used to treat refractory ascites, but the effect was poor in many patients. In this study, we analyzed patients treated with tolvaptan (TLV) at our hospital and investigated predictors of the effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objective of treatment for polycystic liver disease is to reduce the liver volume and reduce or resolve compression symptoms such as abdominal fullness and abdominal pain due to hepatomegaly. Liver cysts are treated internally by puncture and aspiration of the cyst contents or hepatic artery embolization and surgically by cyst fenestration or hepatectomy, but no clear consensus has been reached concerning their selection. We introduced monoethanolamine oleate (EO) sclerotherapy therapy for liver cysts in 1999 and reported its effectiveness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Treatment for chronic hepatitis C has recently developed in a very rapid manner. In Japan, in September 2014, IFN-free asunaprevir (ASV) and daclatasvir (DCV) became available for combination therapy. We report the treatment outcomes achieved at our hospital using this combination therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B, an intermediate stage, includes various conditions of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This heterogeneity of the patients with intermediate-stage HCC makes it difficult to predict their survival rates. In the present study, we examined the validity of the modified Bolondi classification (Kinki criteria) as a subclassification of patients with BCLC stage B HCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is recommended as a first-line therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients ineligible for curative therapy and without portal invasion. The Assessment for Retreatment with TACE (ART) scoring system was recently proposed for identifying patients who would not show sufficient survival benefit from repeated TACE. We reevaluated the performance of ART in HCC patients treated in Japan, where selective TACE is commonly used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Several studies revealed that the proportion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without hepatitis virus infection (NBNC-HCC) is increasing. On the other hand, epigenetic alterations are reportedly responsible for HCC development. Here, we identified HCC risk factors that are associated with DNA methylation in the background liver tissue of NBNC-HCC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Sorafenib has become a standard therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma following the demonstration of significant increase in progression-free survival as well as overall survival (OS) in the 2-phase III trials. We examined efficacy and adverse events (AEs) in patients treated with sorafenib over a 6-year period since approval in Japan.
Methods: Two hundred and forty-one patients treated with sorafenib at the Kinki University Hospital were retrospectively analyzed clinically for the factors related to survival periods, tumor response evaluated by the Response Evaluation Criteria In Cancer of the Liver (RECICL) and AEs.
Objectives: Triple therapy using peg-interferon, ribavirin and simeprevir (PEG-IFN/RBV/SMV) has reportedly resulted in high-sustained virological response (SVR) rates in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC), especially in naïve cases and relapsers to prior PEG-IFN/RBV therapy. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the antiviral response associated with a triple regimen, in the context of early reduction of viral load during treatment.
Methods: Forty-six CHC patients with HCV genotype 1b were treated with PEG-IFN/RBV/SMV triple therapy: 20 were naïve cases, 12 were relapsers and 14 were non-responders to prior PEG-IFN/RBV therapy.