TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of sorafenib in downsizing hepatocellular carcinoma prior to liver transplantation and in treating tumor recurrence
AU - Sinakos, Emmanouil
AU - Selvaggi, Gennaro
AU - Papalavrentios, Lavrentis
AU - Tzakis, Andreas
AU - Akriviadis, Evangelos
PY - 2011/8/12
Y1 - 2011/8/12
N2 - Sorafenib is shown to improve survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it has as yet not been tested in the liver transplantation (LT) setting. We report a 55-year-old man with multifocal HCC (stage B) related to hepatitis B virus cirrhosis (Child-Pugh B), initially treated with transarterial chemoembolization. After five months, sorafenib was added due to lack of response. This enhanced the downsizing of the tumor and eventually led to a surgically successful LT after 4 months of combined treatment. Sorafenib was re-initiated 15 months post-transplant due to skeletal tumor recurrence and led to patient's clinical improvement. The patient remains in good clinical condition 3 years after LT. Sorafenib was well tolerated throughout the entire period of administration with no serious or unexpected adverse events. We conclude that sorafenib can be safely used as a bridge to LT and in transplanted patients in case of HCC recurrence.
AB - Sorafenib is shown to improve survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it has as yet not been tested in the liver transplantation (LT) setting. We report a 55-year-old man with multifocal HCC (stage B) related to hepatitis B virus cirrhosis (Child-Pugh B), initially treated with transarterial chemoembolization. After five months, sorafenib was added due to lack of response. This enhanced the downsizing of the tumor and eventually led to a surgically successful LT after 4 months of combined treatment. Sorafenib was re-initiated 15 months post-transplant due to skeletal tumor recurrence and led to patient's clinical improvement. The patient remains in good clinical condition 3 years after LT. Sorafenib was well tolerated throughout the entire period of administration with no serious or unexpected adverse events. We conclude that sorafenib can be safely used as a bridge to LT and in transplanted patients in case of HCC recurrence.
KW - Hepatocellular carcinoma
KW - Liver transplantation
KW - Sorafenib
KW - Transarterial chemoembolization
KW - Tumor recurrence
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M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79961221146
VL - 24
SP - 228
EP - 230
JO - Annals of Gastroenterology
JF - Annals of Gastroenterology
SN - 1108-7471
IS - 3
ER -