title: Prognostic factors in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib: a retrospective comparison with previously known prognostic models.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sorafenib, a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is now the treatment of choice for systemic therapy of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Herein, we present the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with advanced HCC who were treated with sorafenib.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data of 201 sorafenib-treated, metastatic HCC patients were collected from a single institution tumor registry. The primary and secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and failure-free survival (FFS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chronic hepatitis B was the predominant cause of HCC (84%). Of 162 evaluable patients, 4 partial responses were recorded. With a median follow-up of 15.7 months, the median FFS and OS were 2.5 months (95% CI 2.3-2.7) and 5.3 months (95% CI 4.4-6.3), respectively. In multivariate analysis, the prognostic factors associated with FFS were the presence of ascites, portal venous thrombosis, serum α-fetoprotein ≥400 ng/ml, albumin, bilirubin, tumor size and number, and performance status. Likewise, the presence of ascites, portal venous thrombosis, tumor size and number, performance status and baseline levels of α-fetoprotein, albumin and bilirubin were significantly related with OS. After adjusting for performance status, the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program scoring system and Okuda stages can better predict the hazard of failure or death than the Child-Pugh classification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that Cancer of the Liver Italian Program scores or Okuda stages, along with performance status, can be useful in stratifying patients with advanced HCC treated with sorafenib.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Kee
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Jung-Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Uhm
authors.forename: Se Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jeeyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joon Oh
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Young Suk
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Won Ki
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Ho Yeong
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001557:Benzenesulfonates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009536:Niacinamide / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds; D011379:Prognosis; D011725:Pyridines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D000077157:Sorafenib; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001557:Benzenesulfonates; D010671:Phenylurea Compounds; D011725:Pyridines; D009536:Niacinamide; D000077157:Sorafenib