Publications by authors named "Satoru Kakizaki"
Aim: This study aimed to compare the prognostic performance of the risk models for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) as first-line treatment.
Methods: Among 449 patients included in this retrospective multicenter study, we compared the prognostic performance of 13 risk models for the 12-month and 18-month survival status using area under the curve (AUC), net reclassification improvement (NRI), and relative integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) analysis. We also constructed a calibration plot to assess the fitness of each model.
In the current era of immune therapy, lenvatinib (LEN) continues to be vital for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) patients. This study investigates the importance of nutritional status in the prognosis of uHCC patients receiving LEN and evaluates a new prognostic scoring system that combines the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) and systemic inflammatory response. From 2018 to 2022, 484 uHCC patients treated with LEN (384 males, median age 73).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Oral thrombopoietin receptor agonists are used to treat thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic liver disease who are scheduled for invasive procedures. The efficacy of lusutrombopag based on the pretreatment platelet count was investigated.
Methods: Patients treated at nine hospitals from December 2015 to December 2023 were included.
Aim: Since the development of tremelimumab plus durvalumab (Dur/Tre) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), it has been used as not only an initial but also later line treatment in clinical practice. This study aimed to elucidate clinical prognostic factors for progression-free survival (PFS) in Dur/Tre treatment cases.
Methods: Enrolled were 183 uHCC patients treated with Dur/Tre from 2023 to May 2024 (median age, 74 years; male patients, 152; Child-Pugh class A:B, 150:33; Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B:C, 59:124; initial line use, 64).
We previously found that "albumin grade", formerly called the "ALBS grade," demonstrated significant capability for prognostic stratification in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated with lenvatinib. The purpose of the present study was to compare the performance of the albumin grade with that of the modified albumin-bilirubin (mALBI) grade in predicting overall survival of HCC patients with different BCLC stages and treatment types. We enrolled 7,645 Japanese patients newly diagnosed with HCC using the Akaike information criteria (AIC), likelihood ratio, and C-index in different Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages and treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The most frequently used first-line treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is atezolizumab plus bevacizumab. Upon progression after this treatment, the standard of care in many countries is sorafenib, due to the lack of reimbursement for other drugs. Several randomized trials are currently underway to clarify the best second-line therapy in patients with HCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEditorial: Predictive Factors and Survival Outcome of Conversion Therapy for Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Receiving Atezolizumab and Bevacizumab: Comparative Analysis of Conversion, Partial Response and Complete Response Patients. Authors' Reply.
Aliment Pharmacol Ther
November 2024
Article Synopsis
- Durvalumab plus tremelimumab (Durva/Treme) is the first-line immunotherapy option for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with a reported objective response (OR) rate of 15.5%.
- The study involved 110 patients and aimed to identify whether changes in tumor markers, specifically alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP), could serve as predictive biomarkers for treatment response, using data collected both before and four weeks after treatment.
- It was found that higher baseline AFP levels (≥ 400 ng/mL) significantly correlated with better OR rates, and a ≥10% reduction in AFP or DCP
Article Synopsis
- * A retrospective analysis of 885 HCC patients showed no significant differences in overall survival, time to progression, or disease control rates between viral and nonviral patients treated with the combination therapy.
- * Common prognostic factors were identified across both groups, but there might be some stronger associations between immunological factors and outcomes specifically in viral patients, while treatment-related toxicities and second-line treatments showed nearly identical results for both etiology subgroups.
Article Synopsis
- - This study investigates what factors predict conversion therapy success in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) and compares the survival outcomes of those who underwent conversion therapy to those with partial or complete responses after treatment with atezolizumab and bevacizumab.
- - Out of 946 uHCC patients studied, only 43 (4.5%) received conversion therapy, with a higher overall response rate in this group (65.1%) compared to those who did not undergo conversion therapy (23.7%), indicating a statistically significant difference.
- - Factors such as earlier BCLC stage, lack of macrovascular invasion or extrahepatic spread, and low neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were found
Purpose: Durable partial response (PR) and durable stable disease (SD) are often seen in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (atezo-bev). This study investigates the outcome of these patients and the histopathology of the residual tumors.
Patients And Methods: The IMbrave150 study's atezo-bev group was analyzed.
Introduction: Gastrointestinal varices rupture is considered to be prone to occur during atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) treatment. This study aimed to investigate predictive factors affecting the increase in spleen volume (SpV) and the association of SpV variation with the clinical outcomes of Atez/Bev.
Methods: A total of 164 HCC patients were included in this retrospective multicenter study.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccine has contributed to infection control and the prevention of complications due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Conversely, the COVID-19 vaccine has been associated with adverse effects due to liver injury caused by autoimmunity or drugs. To date, Japanese journals have only published five reports of autoimmune liver damage associated with the COVID-19 vaccination.
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- A study investigated the impact of the rs16906115 polymorphism in the interleukin-7 gene on immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and treatment response to immune checkpoint inhibitors within a Japanese population.
- Conducting a comparison between participants with severe irAEs and those with none, as well as hepatocellular carcinoma patients categorized by treatment response, researchers found no significant association between the polymorphism and irAEs, but identified a link to poorer treatment outcomes in responders.
- The findings suggest that while the rs16906115 minor allele does not predict irAEs, its homozygosity may indicate a reduced likelihood of effective treatment results in this Japanese cohort.
Article Synopsis
- Durvalumab plus tremelimumab (Dur/Tre) is approved for first-line treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (u-HCC), but its real-world effectiveness is not well understood.
- A study involving 120 patients found an objective response rate (ORR) of 15.8%, a disease control rate (DCR) of 53.3%, and a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 3.9 months, alongside a high rate of adverse events (AEs).
- Although there was no significant difference in response and survival rates between those treated as first-line versus later-line, first-line therapy showed better disease control; careful management is needed for older patients or those with
Article Synopsis
- Lenvatinib is a treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC), but it can increase the risk of bleeding from esophagogastric varices (EGVs). This study looked into how common EGVs are, what predicts their bleeding, and the complications they cause in patients receiving lenvatinib.
- A total of 535 cirrhotic patients undergoing lenvatinib treatment were examined. The study found that 44% of these patients had EGVs, with a 3% incidence of bleeding over 12 months, mainly occurring in patients identified as being at high risk for EGVs.
- The only notable predictor for EGV bleeding was having high-risk
Background: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atezo/Bev) is frequently selected as the primary systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Aims: To investigate the outcomes of patients with HCC treated with Atezo/Bev in a real-world setting based on whether they met the inclusion criteria for the phase 3 IMbrave150 trial.
Methods: A total of 936 patients were enrolled.
Article Synopsis
- * The research identified independent prognostic factors affecting overall survival and progression-free survival, notably the severity of decreased appetite, immunotoxicity, diarrhea, fatigue, arterial hypertension, and proteinuria.
- * The findings underscore a significant relationship between the occurrence of AEs and therapy outcomes in HCC patients, similar to what has been observed in other treatment contexts, highlighting the importance of monitoring AEs for prognosis.
Article Synopsis
- Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) were introduced in Japan in 2014, prompting a study to assess their impact on the prognosis of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by comparing outcomes before and after their availability.
- The study analyzed 1949 patients, revealing that the post-DAA group had significantly better clinical outcomes, including higher rates of sustained virological response (SVR), improved liver function markers, and enhanced overall survival rates compared to the pre-DAA group.
- The findings indicate that DAA therapy has significantly improved prognosis and treatment outcomes for patients with HCV-HCC, highlighting the importance of achieving SVR for better survival rates.
Atopic dermatitis is common in children and often treated with topical corticosteroids (TCs). A boy in his late teens who had been using TCs for atopic dermatitis was diagnosed with liver damage during a health checkup. A medical examination revealed severe steatotic liver disease and elevated liver enzyme levels despite the absence of typical symptoms such as central obesity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study aimed to develop a prognostic scoring system for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev).
- A total of 719 patients were analyzed, examining factors such as BCLC classification, AFP level, and mALBI scores to create the IMABALI-De scoring system, which showed better predictive ability for overall and progression-free survival compared to the CRAFITY score.
- The IMABALI-De score demonstrated significant results, indicating it may be a more effective tool for predicting outcomes in patients undergoing this combination treatment for liver cancer.
Article Synopsis
- - The study examines the impact of Body Mass Index (BMI) on survival among patients with advanced liver cancer (HCC) undergoing first-line treatment with either atezolizumab plus bevacizumab or lenvatinib, focusing on underweight, normal-weight, and overweight classifications.
- - In a cohort of 1,292 patients, results indicated that underweight individuals had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) compared to normal-weight patients, while no significant differences in OS were observed between normal and overweight patients.
- - The research highlights the differing prognostic implications of BMI in cancer treatment, suggesting that underweight patients may require more focused clinical considerations in advanced HCC therapy.
Article Synopsis
- Machine learning (ML) models were developed and tested on nearly 1,700 NAFLD/MASLD patients to improve the detection of significant fibrosis (SF) compared to traditional scoring methods like FIB-4.
- The study found that ML models performed 7%-12% better than FIB-4, with an optimized random forest model achieving the highest accuracy in identifying patients with SF.
- Effective use of simple blood tests and ML can significantly enhance patient screening, reducing unnecessary referrals and missed diagnoses in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Background: Data concerning the use of lenvatinib in very old patients (≥ 80 years) are limited, although the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in this patient population is constantly increasing.
Objective: This analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of lenvatinib in a large cohort of very old patients (≥ 80 years) with unresectable HCC.
Patients And Methods: The study was conducted on a cohort of 1325 patients from 46 centers in four Western and Eastern countries (Italy, Germany, Japan, and the Republic of Korea) who were undergoing first-line treatment with lenvatinib between July 2010 and February 2022.