ObjectiveTo explore the influence of 5 mm surgical margin (SM) width on the prognosis of patients with solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the influence of tumor size and microvascular invasion (MVI) on strategic decision of SM width.MethodsThe clinicopathologic data of patients with solitary HCC underwent the surgical resection in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2014 to September 2015 were collected. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria of this study, the prognostic differences of the patients with SM≤5 mm and SM>5 mm were compared after the propensity score matching (PSM), and the influences of the 5 mm SM on the recurrence-free survival rate of large HCC (>5 cm) or small HCC (≤5 cm) and MVI positive or negative patients were analyzed.ResultsA total of 266 eligible patients were included, with a median overall survival of 40.01 months and a median recurrence-free survival of 37.01 months. During the follow-up period, 137 patients recurred and 75 patients died. After PSM, the basic indexes had no significant differences between the patients with SM>5 mm (n=78) and SM≤5 mm (n=78). The results of the multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the tumor size and MVI were the important factors of the recurrence-free survival (P<0.05) and the tumor size, MVI, HBeAg, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were the important factors of the overall survival (P<0.05) before the PSM; while the MVI and SM were the important factors of the recurrence-free survival (P<0.05), the gender, AFP, and MVI were the important factors of the overall survival (P<0.05) after the PSM. The recurrence-free survival rate of the patients with SM >5 mm had better than that with SM≤5 mm after the PSM, but the overall survival had no difference. In the MVI negative and large HCC subgroups, the patients with SM>5 mm showed the better recurrence-free survival rate. However, in the MVI positive and small HCC subgroups did not show any differences in the recurrence-free survival rate for the different SM widths.ConclusionsAccording to the results of this study, a wider SM (>5 mm) could improve recurrence-free survival in patients with a single tumor within BCLC stage 0/A. For patients without MVI or large HCC, SM>5 mm might be adequate. However, for patients with MVI or small HCC, the determination of an appropriate SM width needs further to be investigated.
To challenge the 15% enhancement of 5-year survival of cancer for the plan of “Health-China 2030”, we must strive the following measurements to complete the 15% enhancement of 5-year survival of liver cancer: conduct conversion therapy and conversion to resectability for the 70% of unresectable intermediate-to-advanced stage liver cancer so as to prolong survival; try our best to identify and treat the people of HBV and HCV infection, and to screen the risk people so as to reduce the incidence of liver cancer and the proportion for intermediate-to-advanced stage liver cancer; continue to try our best in the full course management of liver cancer under the frame of MDT.
Organoids are three-dimensional structures formed by self-organizing growth of cells in vitro, which own many structures and functions similar with those of corresponding in vivo organs. Although the organoid culture technologies are rapidly developed and the original cells are abundant, the organoid cultured by current technologies are rather different with the real organs, which limits their application. The major challenges of organoid cultures are the immature tissue structure and restricted growth, both of which are caused by poor functional vasculature. Therefore, how to develop the vascularization of organoids has become an urgent problem. We presently reviewed the progresses on the original cells of organoids and the current methods to develop organoids vascularization, which provide clues to solve the above-mentioned problems.
Objective To investigate the prediction of baseline neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on the prognosis of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) + lenvatinib + camrelizumab. Method The clinical data of 58 patients treated with TACE + lenvatinib + camrelizumab in the Department of Liver Surgery of West China Hospital of Sichuan University from June 2020 to May 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Results Among the 58 cases included, 7 cases were complete response (CR), 37 cases were partial response (PR), 11 cases were stable disease (SD), and 3 cases were progressive disease (PD). All cases had different degrees of adverse events, including 58 cases of grade 1, 36 cases of grade 2, 35 cases of grade 3, and 1 case of grade 4. The overall response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) based on modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (mRECIST) were 75.9% (44/58) and 94.8% (55/58), respectively. The hepatectomy rate was 31.0% (18/58) and the conversion success rate was 37.9% (22/58). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that NLR was an independent risk factor for ORR (OR=0.093, P=0.008). All cases were followed up for 16–60 weeks, with a median follow-up of 34 weeks. Overall survival situation (χ2=4.163, P=0.041) and progression free survival situation (χ2=10.626, P=0.001) in the low NLR group were better than those of the high NLR group. Conclusion NLR has clinical significance in predicting the prognosis of uHCC cases underwent TACE + lenvatinib + camrelizumab, which is worthy of further study.
Objective To explore the safety and efficacy of lenvatinib in combination with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) antibody in the treatment of recurrent liver cancer. Method The clinical data of 22 patients with unresectable recurrent liver cancer admitted to Department of Liver Surgery and Liver Transplantation Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and received the conversion therapy of lenvatinib+TACE+PD-1 antibody between January 2019 and January 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Results All 22 patients experienced some degree of adverse events, with a grade 3 adverse event rate of 18.2% (4/22) and no grade 4 or higher adverse events. At 4 months of treatment, according to the modified response evaluation criteria solid tumors (mRECIST), 2 cases were in complete response (CR), 5 cases were in partial response (PR), and 6 cases were in stable disease (SD), 9 cases were in progressive disease (PD), and the objective response (CR+PR) rate (ORR) was 31.8% (7/22). At the last follow-up, there was 1 case in CR, 5 cases in PR, 1 case in SD, and 15 cases in PD, with an ORR of 27.3% (6/22). The 1-year overall survival (OS) rate was 83.8% and the 1-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate was 38.2%. In the subgroup analysis, the 1-year OS rate for patients with recurrent liver cancer with intrahepatic lesions (n=16) only was 86.2% [95%CI (77.1%, 95.3%)], the 1-year PFS rate was 46.9% [95%CI (34.0%, 59.8%)], and the ORR based on mRECIST criteria was 43.8% (7/16). Patients with intrahepatic combined with extrahepatic lesions (n=6) had a 1-year OS rate of 75.0% [95%CI (53.3%, 96.7%)] and a 1-year PFS rate of 16.7% [95%CI (15.0%, 31.9%)], and the ORR based on mRECIST criteria was 0% (0/6). There were no significant differences in OS (P=0.864) and PFS (P=0.125) between the two subgroups. The ORR of intrahepatic combined with extrahepatic lesions group was worse compared to the intrahepatic lesion group (P=0.049). Conclusion Lenvatinib in combination with TACE and PD-1 antibody is safe and effective in the treatment of unresectable recurrent liver cancer, but there are still many issues that deserve further exploration.