Salvage surgery following downstaging of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: We reported here a series of 49 patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who underwent nonsurgical treatment to downstage the disease followed by salvage surgery, their long-term outcome, and pattern of recurrence.

Summary Background Data: Most HCC patients present with unresectable disease and are treated with chemotherapy or intra-arterial therapy with a palliative intent. Occasionally, there are good responses to treatment so that salvage surgery becomes feasible afterward.

Gleditsia sinensis fruit extract induced growth inhibition involves basic fibroblast growth factor and nitric oxide.

Recently we have shown the antiproliferative activity of Gleditsia sinensis fruit extract (GSE) on various solid tumour and leukaemia cell lines as well as primary cultured bone marrow cells isolated from patients with acute and chronic myelogenous leukaemia. We further studied whether the growth inhibitory effect of GSE involves basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in cancer cell lines including breast cancer MDA-MB231, nasopharyngeal cancer CNE-2 and prostate cancer LNCaP. We also investigated whether GSE could alter the production of nitric oxide (NO) pattern from these cancer cell lines.

Comprehensive proteomic profiling identifies serum proteomic signatures for detection of hepatocellular carcinoma and its subtypes.

Background: Detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) is difficult. We investigated the use of comprehensive proteomic profiling of sera to differentiate HCC from CLD.

Methods: Proteomes in sera from 20 CLD patients with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) <500 microg/L (control group) and 38 HCC patients (disease group) were profiled by anion-exchange fractionation (first dimension), two types (IMAC3 copper and WCX2) of ProteinChip Arrays (second dimension), and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (third dimension).

Percutaneous local ablative therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a review and look into the future.

Objective: To review and compare treatment result for percutaneous local ablative therapy (PLAT) with surgical resection in the treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Summary Background Data: PLAT is indicated for small unresectable HCC localized to the liver. From the use of ethanol to the latest technology of radiofrequency ablation, ablative techniques have been refined and their role in the management of HCC established.

Quantification and utility of monosialylated alpha-fetoprotein in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma with nondiagnostic serum total alpha-fetoprotein.

Background: At concentrations <500 microg/L, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has low specificity in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but monosialylated AFP (msAFP) is more specific for HCC. We describe two strategies for quantitative analysis of msAFP and explore their diagnostic accuracy in cases of HCC with nondiagnostic serum total AFP concentrations.

Methods: We first used isoelectric focusing, Western blot, and densitometry (IEF-Western blot assay).