Publications by authors named "Pei-Mei Chai"

Background: The combination of anti-angiogenic therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized the management of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). While an early-phase study demonstrated promising outcomes for lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab (L+P) in treating uHCC, the LEAP-002 trial did not meet its primary endpoint. However, the comparative efficacy between L+P and atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (A+B) as first-line treatment remains a topic of uncertainty.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study explored how having an autoimmune disease (AD) affects the survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent surgery, specifically hepatectomies.
  • - Out of over 5,500 patients analyzed from 2002 to 2018, those with AD showed similar overall survival and disease-free survival rates compared to those without AD, with no significant difference in mortality or recurrence risks.
  • - The conclusion suggests that autoimmune diseases do not worsen outcomes for HCC patients post-surgery, indicating that candidates for liver resections should not be deterred by the presence of an AD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

For advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the best second-line treatment after first-line treatment with sorafenib is unclear. This study aimed to compared the efficacy of second-line regorafenib (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with advanced HCC after sorafenib therapy. This retrospective study included 89 patients with HCC treated with sorafenib, and then regorafenib (n = 58) or an ICI (n = 31).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (atezo-bev) has been recommended for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). High-dose external beam radiotherapy (RT) is recognized for its excellent local tumor control. The efficacy and safety of concurrent atezo-bev with RT for highly advanced HCC has been minimally explored.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) remain the primary therapeutic option for patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the selection of a suitable TKI is an issue in real-world clinical practice. Thus, this study aimed to identify patients most likely to benefit from lenvatinib treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lenvatinib and atezolizumab plus bevacizumab(A + B) have been used for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as first-line therapy. Real-world studies comparison of efficacy and safety in these two regimens are limited, we therefore conduct this study to investigate these issues.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients received lenvatinib (n = 46) and A + B (n = 46) as first-line systemic therapy for unresectable HCC in a tertiary medical center.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sorafenib has been used to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC). However, there is no evidence for a response of different target lesions to sorafenib administration. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effect of sorafenib on various aHCC target lesions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) like atezolizumab plus bevacizumab show promise for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with a study analyzing 89 patients for treatment effectiveness.
  • The study introduced a new CRAFITY scoring system combined with on-treatment alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) response to determine overall and progression-free survival chances, highlighting low CRAFITY scores and positive AFP responses as strong predictors of better outcomes.
  • Results indicated that patients classified into three groups based on CRAFITY score and AFP response had different rates of objective response and survival, with the lowest group having the best outcomes and scoring methods outperforming individual indicators alone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background and Aims: The Albumin-Bilirubin (ALBI) grade is a good index for liver function evaluation and is also associated with the outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma patients receiving TACE. However, the correlation between the dynamic change to the ALBI score and clinical outcome is seldom discussed. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the application of ALBI grade and dynamic change of ALBI grade (delta ALBI grade) after first TACE for prognosis prediction in HCC patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF