Efficacy of combined modality therapy with sorafenib following hepatic arterial injection chemotherapy and three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with major vascular invasion

The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients exhibiting macroscopic vascular invasion (MVI) is poor, and the most appropriate treatment approach remains unclear. The current study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of sorafenib treatment following chemoradiotherapy for advanced HCC exhibiting MVI. A newly reported regimen, including 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin therapy (NewFP), plus three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) for MVI was used as the initial treatment. Additionally, sorafenib, as a secondary treatment, was administered after NewFP plus 3D-CRT for MVI. The present retrospective study enrolled patients with unresectable advanced HCC that was treated with NewFP plus 3D-CRT for MVI between January 2009 and December 2017. In total, 32 HCC patients with MVI were registered. Of these 32 patients, 18 were treated with NewFP plus 3D-CRT for MVI (NewFP + 3D-CRT group) and 14 were treated with sorafenib following NewFP plus 3D-CRT for MVI (sorafenib after NewFP + 3D-CRT group). The study endpoints were overall survival, overall response rate and disease control rate. Clinical factors influencing overall survival were identified using univariate and multivariate analyses. The median survival time in the NewFP + 3D-CRT group and sorafenib following NewFP + 3D-CRT group was 6.7 and 49.2 months, respectively (P=0.0003). For patients with advanced HCC exhibiting MVI, the initial treatment with NewFP plus 3D-CRT for MVI was well tolerated. The administration of sorafenib as the secondary treatment following NewFP plus 3D-CRT for MVI was associated with a significantly higher overall response rate, disease control rate and increased overall survival as compared with the NewFP plus 3D-CRT treatment.