Long-term complete response of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with multidisciplinary therapy including reduced dose of sorafenib: case report and review of the literature

An 83-year-old man underwent computed tomography during a routine check-up due to a history of surgical treatment for pancreatic cancer. Two tumors were detected in the anterior segment of the liver. A needle biopsy of the larger tumor was performed, and pathological examination showed that the tumor was a poorly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma. Resection was not performed considering the patient’s poor physical condition. Thus, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and radiofrequency ablation of the tumors were performed. Three months later, residual tumor of the larger lesion and multiple pulmonary metastases were detected. This time, continuous hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy was performed. Although the pulmonary metastases markedly reduced, tumor thrombi appeared in the right portal vein on computed tomography. Finally, sorafenib was administered, which led to disappearance of the tumor thrombi and no other signs of recurrence 8 months after initiation of sorafenib on computed tomography. Although sorafenib administration has continued at reduced doses of 200 mg per day or less due to hypertension, complete response has persisted for the past 34 months. It is noteworthy that sorafenib has been given at reduced doses, but a long-term complete response is maintained in a patient who had portal tumor thrombi and distant metastasis. Herein, we present this rare case of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma controlled with reduced doses of sorafenib following multidisciplinary therapy, describe our single center experience with sorafenib use in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, and review previous reports that focused on dose reduction of sorafenib.