title: Efficacy of sorafenib beyond first progression in patients with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated whether continuous sorafenib administration keeps suppressing the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after first progressive disease (PD), and whether it prolongs patients' survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  The size of metastatic lesions was measured in 36 patients with advanced HCC treated with sorafenib. The tumor growth rates before and after radiological PD as well as survival were compared between the patients who continued (n = 23) and stopped (n = 13) sorafenib at first radiological PD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The growth rate did not differ between before and after PD in patients who continued sorafenib, while it increased after PD in patients who stopped sorafenib at PD (P = 0.002). Survival beyond first progression was longer in patients who continued sorafenib than in those who stopped it at PD (P = 0.012), and this tendency was observed even when the analysis was limited to Child-Pugh class A patients (P = 0.085).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sorafenib administration beyond first radiological PD could continuously suppress HCC growth and may have survival benefit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nouso
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Yasuto
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hagihara
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuwaki
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onishi
authors.forename: Fusao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hidenori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shiraha
authors.forename: Akinobu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takaki
authors.forename: Shouta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwadou
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takaguchi
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takuma
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takabatake
authors.forename: Kohsaku
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: Kazuhide
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma; sorafenib; survival beyond first progression