title: Adoptive immunotherapy for postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review.
abstract: The high risk of recurrence in post-operative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) highlights the need for an effective adjuvant treatment. A systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was performed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of adjuvant adoptive immunotherapy (AIT) for post-operative HCC patients. Electronic (MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases) and manual searches were conducted throughout May 2011 to identify RCTs evaluating postoperative AIT for patients with HCC. Methodological quality was assessed in accordance with the QUOROM statement. Four RCTs totalling 423 patients met the eligibility criteria. All RCTs reported significantly improved disease-free survival rate or reduced recurrence rate after treating with adjuvant AIT (p < 0.05). The overall survival rates of AIT group are slightly higher than those of the control group in one study. Moreover, AIT was a safe treatment, with fever as the main adverse effects. This study adds to the evidence that postoperative HCC patients treated with adjuvant AIT show an improvement in disease-free survival rate or recurrence rate.
authors.affiliation: Hepatobiliary Surgery Department of Tumor Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: L-C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: W-P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: F-X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Z-M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: X M
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: L-Q
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000517:prevention & control; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic