J Cancer 2018; 9(16):2773-2777. doi:10.7150/jca.26376 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Department of Medical Oncology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
2. Department of Internal Medicine, Yuyao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Yuyao, Zhejiang, China
Purpose: Liver cancer is insensitive to chemotherapy. Sorafenib is currently the standard treatment for patients with advanced diseases, with mild survival extension and several intolerable drug-related side effects. The establishment of new treatments is an unmet clinical need. The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy and safety of apatinib, a novel antiangiogenic drug, in the treatment of patients with liver cancer.
Materials and Methods: Patients with unresectable or relapsed liver cancer were included in a single center, retrospective, observational study and treated with apatinib until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity.
Results: 32 patients were reviewed from January 2015 to March 2017. No complete response (CR) occurred, 5 patients (16%) showed partial response (PR), 14 patients (44%) had stable disease (SD), 13 patients (41%) had progressive disease (PD), with disease control rate of 60%. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.3-6.1 months) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 3 months (95% CI: 2.5-4.2 months) for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). The median overall survival (OS) was 13 months (95% CI: 12.4-14.1 months) for HCC and 5 months (95% CI: 4.5-6.2 months) for ICC, respectively. The most common adverse effects (AEs) were proteinuria (31%), secondary hypertension (28%) and liver dysfunction (13%).
Conclusion: Apatinib treatment was an effective for patients with liver cancer. The toxicities were mild and tolerable.
Keywords: Liver cancer, apatinib, angiogenesis, retrospective study