Resection of “down-staged” advanced hepatocellular carcinoma after treatment with the VEGFR2 inhibitor apatinib: five cases report

Sorafenib and lenvatinib are currently standard treatments for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the therapeutic effect is unsatisfying. Indeed, very few patients with HCC under sorafenib treatment were eligible for surgery in the past ten years. In addition, there is no report of a patient with the opportunity to undergo radical resection after treatment with lenvatinib. Here, we describe five patients with advanced and unresectable HCC that were able to receive curative resection within 1 year of treatment with the tyrosine kinase inhibitor apatinib that selectively inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). The five patients with advanced and unresectable HCC were treated with apatinib (250 mg po, qd), and all the five patients obtained an objective response to the treatment, allowing for subsequent resection, and the second patient even obtained a pathological complete response. The latest follow-up date was August 20, 2019, and all patients were alive at the latest follow-up. The disease-free survival of the first patient was 13 months. Lung metastasis was found 12 months later after surgery for patient 5. The other three patients have no recurrence. This is the first report of a single drug with promising therapeutic effects in patients with advanced HCC within one year at a single center. Therefore, apatinib may be promising for some patients with locally advanced HCC to undergo radical resection and improve outcomes.