Adjuvant Sorafenib Following Radiofrequency Ablation for Early-Stage Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Microvascular Invasion at the Initial Hepatectomy.

Background: The efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for patients with early-stage recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with microvascular invasion (MVI) at the initial hepatectomy is limited. Our study aimed to explore whether adjuvant sorafenib following RFA could improve the situation.

Methods: We retrospectively included 211 patients with early-stage (tumor number of ≤3 and tumor size of 2-5 cm) recurrent HCC with MVI at the initial hepatectomy who underwent adjuvant sorafenib following RFA or RFA alone in 13 centers from June 2013 to June 2020.

Can Epstein-Barr virus-deoxyribonucleic acid load after induction chemotherapy combined with American Joint Committee on Cancer stage determine the chemotherapy intensity of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma?

Background: Induction chemotherapy (IC) comprising docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil (TPF), combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) effectively improves the survival rate of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LA-NPC). Selecting patients whose risk of tumor recurrence and metastasis is high and the appropriate chemotherapy intensity is a concern. We combined tumor-node-metastasis staging with the load of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) after IC to select the individualized chemotherapy strength.

Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy and Radiotherapy for Stage IV Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A Case Report.

Due to the unsatisfactory robustness of current predictive biomarkers in many cases, application of immunotherapy in advanced cancers with limited treatment options, such as stage IV intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), was quite common. Hence, strategies to enhance the therapeutic effect of immunotherapy or to extend the scope of potential beneficial patients were urgently needed. Combination of radiotherapy and anti-programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) immunotherapy was a promising one, since they were found to have a synergistic anti-tumor effect in animal models and a couple of patients.

The presence of microvascular invasion guides treatment strategy in recurrent HBV-related HCC.

Objectives: We used the status of microvascular invasion (MVI) at primary resection to help treatment selection for hepatitis B virus-positive (HBV+) recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) patients in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B-C.

Methods: From 2009 to 2017, we enrolled 221 consecutive HBV+ rHCC patients at BCLC stage B-C who underwent re-resection (RR), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Post recurrence survival (PRS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between RR/RFA and TACE according to MVI status.

Development and external validation of a nomogram for predicting the overall survival of patients with stage II nasopharyngeal carcinoma after curative treatment.

To facilitate decision-making support for individual patients, development and external validation of a nomogram was undertaken to reveal prognostic factors and predict the value of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) compared with radiotherapy (RT) for stage-II nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Clinical data of 419 and 309 patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (2017) stage-II NPC in two institutions in China were collected retrospectively. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival were compared using Kaplan-Meier estimates.

Treatment selection of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma with microvascular invasion at the initial hepatectomy.

Background: Recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) patients with microvascular invasive (MVI) positive at first resection usually had poorly differentiated tumors and worse survivals. The optimal treatment for this population remains to be elucidated.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 319 rHCC patients with MVI-positive at first resection from June, 2009 to June, 2017.

The long noncoding RNA AK002107 negatively modulates miR-140-5p and targets TGFBR1 to induce epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The abnormal expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) is associated with human carcinoma. The present study aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the function of lncRNA AK002107 in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The differential expression of lncRNAs between HCC and paired nontumor tissues was identified using microarrays, and the correlation between the expression of lncRNA AK002107 and the clinical prognosis of HCC was analyzed.

The ectonucleotidase ENTPD1/CD39 limits biliary injury and fibrosis in mouse models of sclerosing cholangitis.

The pathogenesis of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and the mechanistic link to inflammatory bowel disease remain ill-defined. Ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (ENTPD1)/clusters of differentiation (CD) 39, the dominant purinergic ecto-enzyme, modulates intestinal inflammation. Here, we have explored the role of CD39 in biliary injury and fibrosis.

Selective targeting of lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) suppresses hepatic fibrosis progression and accelerates its reversal.

Background/aims: We studied the role of lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) in collagen crosslinking and hepatic progenitor cell (HPC) differentiation, and the therapeutic efficacy of a LOXL2-blocking monoclonal antibody on liver fibrosis progression/reversal in mice.

Methods: Anti-LOXL2 antibody, control antilysyl oxidase antibody or placebo was administered during thioacetamide (TAA)-induced fibrosis progression or during recovery. Therapeutic efficacy in biliary fibrosis was tested in BALB/c.

Renal Function and All-Cause Mortality Risk Among Cancer Patients.

Renal dysfunction predicts all-cause mortality in general population. However, the prevalence of renal insufficiency and its relationship with mortality in cancer patients are unclear.We retrospectively studied 9465 patients with newly diagnosed cancer from January 2010 to December 2010.

Lysyl oxidase activity contributes to collagen stabilization during liver fibrosis progression and limits spontaneous fibrosis reversal in mice.

Collagen stabilization through irreversible cross-linking is thought to promote hepatic fibrosis progression and limit its reversibility. However, the mechanism of this process remains poorly defined. We studied the functional contribution of lysyl oxidase (LOX) to collagen stabilization and hepatic fibrosis progression/reversalin vivousing chronic administration of irreversible LOX inhibitor β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN, or vehicle as control) in C57Bl/6J mice with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced fibrosis.

Integrin αvβ6 critically regulates hepatic progenitor cell function and promotes ductular reaction, fibrosis, and tumorigenesis.

Unlabelled: Integrin αvβ6 is rapidly up-regulated on cells of epithelial lineage during tissue injury, where one of its primary functions is activation of latent transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1). In human liver cirrhosis, αvβ6 is overexpressed by cells comprising the ductular reaction, and its inhibition suppresses experimental biliary fibrosis in rodents. Here, we show that αvβ6 is expressed on the actively proliferating subset of hepatic progenitor cells and is required for their progenitor function in vivo and in vitro through integrin αvβ6-dependent TGFβ1 activation.

Prognostic nomogram for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

Background & Aims: To establish an effective prognostic nomogram for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Methods: The nomogram was constructed based on data obtained from a retrospective study on 2938 patients who received TACE as an initial therapy from 2000 to 2008. The predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of the nomogram were compared with seven current commonly used staging systems on HCC by using data obtained from a prospective study on a cohort of 647 patients treated from January 2011 to December 2011 at the same institution.

Multidisciplinary treatment based on surgery leading to long-term survival of a patient with multiple asynchronous rare primary malignant neoplasms: A case report and literature review.

Patients that present with multiple primary malignant neoplasms are increasingly encountered, but the treatment of such patients presents specific challenges and long-term survival is rare. The present study reports the case of a 45-year-old female diagnosed with three rare, distinct primary malignant neoplasms, including epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) of the brain, Ewing's sarcoma of the lumbar 2 vertebra and a malignant solitary fibrous tumour (SFT) of the liver, at different time points. The patient underwent multidisciplinary treatment according to the diagnoses, including radial resection of all primary lesions, chemotherapy (consisting of vincristine, dactinomycin, cyclophosphamide and adriamycin) and radiotherapy, to treat Ewing's sarcoma and metastases of EHE and malignant SFT.

Transarterial chemoembolization vs. conservative treatment for unresectable infiltrating hepatocellular carcinoma: A retrospective comparative study.

This study was conducted to compare long-term survival between patients with unresectable infiltrating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who were treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and those who received conservative treatment (best supportive care). Between January, 2007 and January, 2012, a total of 131 consecutive patients with unresectable infiltrating HCC underwent TACE in a cancer center (TACE group), while 156 similar consecutive HCC patients received conservative treatment in another cancer center (conservative treatment group). The diagnosis of unresectable infiltrating HCC was established by agreement between two radiologists coming from the two centers, who performed an independent review of all the cross-sectional imagings of the patients.

Extrahepatic platelet-derived growth factor-β, delivered by platelets, promotes activation of hepatic stellate cells and biliary fibrosis in mice.

Background & Aims: Platelet-derived growth factor-β (PDGFB) is a mitogen for hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). We studied the cellular sources of PDGFB and the effects of a high-affinity monoclonal antibody against PDGFB (MOR8457) in mouse models of biliary fibrosis.

Methods: Cellular sources of PDGFB were identified using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, biochemical, and immunohistologic methods.

Radiofrequency ablation versus open hepatic resection for elderly patients (> 65 years) with very early or early hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: This study retrospectively compared the safety and efficacy of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with open hepatic resection (HR) in elderly patients (age > 65 years) with very early or early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Elderly patients (n = 180) with very early or early HCC were studied. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Cancer Center of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.

XPC gene polymorphisms contribute to bladder cancer susceptibility: a meta-analysis.

Numerous studies have investigated the association between three polymorphisms (Lys939Gln, Ala499Val and PAT-/+) of Xeroderma pigmentosum group C (XPC) gene and bladder cancer susceptibility; however, the findings are inconclusive. In order to acquire a more precise estimation of the relationship, we performed a meta-analysis based on 10 studies including 3,934 cases and 4,269 controls for Lys939Gln, five studies including 2,113 cases and 2,249 controls for Ala499Val, and seven studies including 2,834 cases and 3,048 controls for PAT-/+ polymorphism. We searched publications from EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Chinese Biomedical.

Radiofrequency ablation does not induce the significant increase of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells compared with surgical resection in Hepal-6 tumor model.

Surgical resection (SR) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are all currently recognized as important and effective treatment in solid tumors. This study aimed to investigate change in level of CD4(+) CD25(+) Foxp3(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells in tumor-bearing mice after SR vs. RFA and the relationship of this level with tumor progression.

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization combined with radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has become an important treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nowadays, RFA is generally recognized as an alternative treatment to partial hepatectomy for early HCC, especially for patients with impaired liver function and when liver transplantation is not indicated, although some authors consider that RFA can be used as a first-line treatment for early HCC. Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is most commonly classified as palliative rather than potentially curative; there is evidence that TACE prolongs survival in patients with well-compensated liver disease and intermediate-stage HCC.

Radiofrequency ablation with or without transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: a prospective randomized trial.

Purpose: To compare radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with or without transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Patients And Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 189 patients with HCC less than 7 cm at a single tertiary referral center between October 2006 and June 2009. Patients were randomly asssigned to receive TACE combined with RFA (TACE-RFA; n = 94) or RFA alone (n = 95).