Tumor Hypervascularity and hand-foot-skin reaction predict better outcomes in combination treatment of TACE and Sorafenib for intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: To validate the robust predictive values of tumor vascularity and hand-foot-skin reaction (HFSR) in combination treatment of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and sorafenib for patients with intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and then select the potential candidates who would survive best from such treatment. METHODS: A total of 132 treatment-naive patients with intermediate HCC undergoing combination therapy of TACE and sorafenib were recruited between January 2010 and December 2014. The tumor vascularity was defined according to digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and HFSR was assessed by the national cancer institute common terminology criteria for adverse events (NCI-CTCAE). The Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess the correlation between vascularity and radiologic response; time to radiologic progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier techniques and compared by log-rank test; factors associated with them were evaluated using multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: During a median follow up of 17.3 months, it was revealed that hypervascularity and development of ≥2 grade of HFSR within 60 days after sorafenib initiation were favorable predictors for TTP (HR 0.378, p < 0.001; HR 0.627, p = 0.018) and OS (HR 0.499, p = 0.002; HR 0.555, p = 0.004). The median TTP and OS for patients with both were 12.2 and 29.1 months, which were better than patients with either of them (6.0 months, HR 1.74, p = 0.012; 16.5 months, HR 1.73, p = 0.021), as well as those with neither (2.9 months, HR 3.74, p < 0.001; 11.9 months, HR 3.17, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Tumor hypervascularity and development of ≥2 grade of HFSR within 60 days were favorable predictive factors for the combination treatment of TACE and sorafenib, with both of which the patients survived longest and might be the potential candidates. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-5570-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.