title: Thalidomide for treating metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma: a pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thalidomide has been reported to have antitumor activity for treating metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We evaluated the safety and efficacy of using thalidomide for treating selected patients with unresectable or metastatic HCC, and their disease was refractory to systemic chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight patients with measurable and metastatic HCC that had progressed with prior systemic chemotherapy and who desired further active therapy were enrolled in this study. Thalidomide was given orally at bedtime and it was started at 200 mg/day with no further dose escalation. The response was measured at 2-month intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age was 44 years (range: 34-52 years) and all the patients had received doxorubicin-based systemic chemotherapy prior to their enrollment. Each patient received thalidomide for a median of 152 days (range: 5-422 days). One partial response was observed (12.5%, 95% CI; 0-42%) along with 4 cases of stable diseases. The most commonly encountered toxicity was somnolence; grade 3 somnolence was noted for one patient, which led to treatment discontinuation. Skin rash was observed in one responding patient.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that thalidomide may feasibly offer disease stabilization to metastatic HCC patients. Further dose escalation of thalidomide, or its combination with other chemotherapeutic agents, may be of interest and this should be investigated for treating patients with metastatic HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Gachon Medical School Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Se Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jung Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Oh Sang
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Sun Suk
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ju Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Keon Kug
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yeon Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jeong Nam
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eunmi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Soo-Mee
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Eun Kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Dong Bok
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jae Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000556:secondary*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D013792:Thalidomide