Epidemiological, genetic and clinical data presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 are collectively focussed on different approaches designed to improve the diagnosis, staging and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
"Human hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide and the second most frequent cause of cancer-related death," said EASL's Scientific Committee Member Dr Helen Reeves Senior Lecturer & Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
"Because HCC is such an extremely diverse and heterogeneous disease, improving patient outcomes has proved a difficult undertaking. A number of existing therapeutic options have been subjected to rigorous study but have not shown any patient benefit. The findings from these HCC diagnosis, staging and treatment studies are important because they have the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes," Dr Reeves explained.
Key findings from the studies include:
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the need for centrally-coordinated screening programmes across Europe
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the potential of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI to more accurately stage HCC patients with early disease to ensure each patient receives the optimum treatment
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the development of a 3-gene signature blood test, which can be used as an alternative to imaging techniques to reliably identify early stage HCC in high-risk individuals
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impressive long-term data reinforcing the importance of percutaneous RFA in the HCC treatment armamentarium, including its use in the treatment of advanced HCC where a single HCC is associated with thrombosis of the main portal vein
Wide geographical variation in HCC survival explained by differing intensity of country screening programmes
In Japan, approximately 80% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases are detected by screening. In marked contrast, the figures for the UK, Spain and Hong Kong data were significantly lower at 15%, 35% and less than 10% respectively.
There was also a dramatic difference in the stage of disease at diagnosis. In Japanese patients, 59% were within the Milan Criteria (generally accepted set of parameters designed to assess the suitability of HCC patients for liver transplantation) and 71% were suitable for potentially curative treatment. Comparative figures for Spain were much lower at 26 and 32%, the UK 37 and 38% and Hong Kong, 8 and 16%, respectively.
Median HCC survival for Japan, Spain, UK and Hong Kong were 47, 26, 20 and 7 months respectively.
"The wide geographical variation in survival among HCC patients had been attributed to intrinsic ethnic differences, different aetiologies, or disease stages at presentation," explained Dr Reeves. "However, age, gender and Child-Pugh class distribution were all similar between the HCC patient populations from each of these four countries. Statistical analysis showed that aetiology had little impact on survival," she said.
"It would appear that the marked difference in the intensity of screening programmes between different countries, and the consequent variation in curative therapeutic options goes a long way to explaining the wide geographical variation in HCC survival," said Dr Reeves. "What we urgently need are centrally-coordinated screening programmes across Europe to improve outcomes," she added.
In this study, more than 5,000 patients were recruited from two high incidence areas, Japan>
Staging HCC with gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI improves treatment outcomes in patients with early disease
Additional staging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI has been shown to be associated with lower recurrence and better survival in patients presumed to have a single nodular HCC on the basis of a dynamic CT scan. These were the exciting findings of a study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014.
Using multivariable analysis, the group of patients who were additionally evaluated with gadoxetic acid-MRI (CT+MR group) was shown to be associated with a significantly lower risk of HCC recurrence (hazard ratio [HR] 0.72,>
According to Dr Reeves, "Early recurrence of HCC after curative treatment is frequent and thought to represent a metastasis from the primary tumour that was actually present before treatment was started. Using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI to more accurately stage HCC patients with early disease has the potential to significantly improve outcomes by ensuring each patient receives the optimum treatment," she explained.
Gadoxetic acid is a contrast agent for MRI that has combined perfusion and hepatocyte-specific properties. This technique has shown higher detection sensitivity for HCC compared to dynamic CT or MRI.
In this historical cohort study, a total of 700 consecutive patients presumed to have a single nodular HCC by dynamic CT scan were analysed. Out of this patient population with early disease, 323 were additionally evaluated with gadoxetic acid-MRI (CT+MR group); 377 were not (CT group).
Results of the initial CT scanning using the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system had identified 243 (34.7%) patients at a very early stage (0) with a single lesion <2 cm; and 457 (65.3%) at an early stage A with a single lesion <5 cm, or three lesions <3 cm. There was no statistical difference in the numbers of patients at stages 0 and A between the CT+MR and CT groups.
After evaluation of those HCC patients in the CT+MR group with gadoxetic acid-MRI, a total of 74 HCC nodules were additionally detected in 53 (16.4%) patients, escalating the BCLC staging in 34 (10.5%) of the patients.
In the 298 propensity score-matched pairs (a statistical matching technique that attempts to estimate the effect of treatment by accounting for the covariates that predict receiving the treatment), the CT+MR group was again associated with a significantly lower risk of HCC recurrence (HR 0.74,>
Novel gene signature able to predict development of HCC in high-risk individuals
A 3-gene signature that can be identified from analysis of a blood sample was able to reliably identify hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, according to the results of a study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014.
Comprehensive gene expression profiling of purified RNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells taken from patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and cirrhosis has identified 3 genes namely AREG, TNFAIP3 and GIMAP5 that were differentially expressed.
Subsequent studies on an independent cohort of 206 HCC patients and 194 patients with CHB and cirrhosis validated that these 3 genes were able to identify HCC with an accuracy of 82.5%, 81.5% and 71.8%, respectively.
Using multivariate logistic regression, these 3 genes in combination accurately predicted the development of HCC, with an AUC of 0.929 (95% CI, 0.90-0.95), and yielded a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 90.2%.
"Timely and effective diagnosis of HCC is critically important because surgical resection in early disease remains the only cure," said Dr Reeves. "Hence, the identification of early stages of disease in high-risk individuals for the development of HCC would greatly improve clinical outcomes."
"However, as it is already possible to detect early stage human HCC in high-risk patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis using imaging techniques, this 3-gene signature would only be a true innovation if it was able to actually predict the development of HCC," Dr Reeves commented.
In this context, this signature is being validated in an ongoing prospective study.
Radiofrequency ablation effective in treating both small HCC and advanced disease
Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is an effective and safe treatment for small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The technique provides excellent overall survival and tumour-to-progression rates, according to the results of a 10 year follow-up study in a population of Chinese patients presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014.
"The development of local ablative therapy has been one of the major advances in the treatment of HCC," said Dr Reeves. "Percutaneous RFA, performed under radiological guidance, is a minimally invasive, repeatable procedure with few complications."
"In the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), where less than 40% of patients are candidates for surgery, and the rate of recurrence after curative surgery is high, percutaneous techniques like RFA are very important."
"These impressive long-term data reinforce the importance of percutaneous RFA in the HCC treatment armamentarium," Dr. Reeves said.
Between May 2000 and May 2012, a total of 1020 small tumour nodules in 837 patients were treated with percutaneous RFA. Complete ablation was achieved in 98.8% (1008/1020) with major complications occurring in only 0.59% (5/837) of patients. The estimated overall 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-year survival rates were 91%, 71%, 54%, and 33%, respectively. The 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year recurrence-free survival rates were 74%, 44%, 30% and 15%, respectively.
Dr Reeves then went on to report the results from a second 7-year follow-up study evaluating the efficacy of percutaneous RFA in HCC, but this time looking specifically at patients with advanced disease.
In this patient population, in whom there was accompanying main portal vein tumour thrombus (MPVTT) and compensated liver cirrhosis, percutaneous RFA significantly prolonged long-term survival compared with no treatment.
The one, three, five and seven year cumulative survival rates of treated patients were 62%, 29%, 18% and 5%, respectively, compared to a 12-month cumulative survival rate of 0% in untreated patients (p < 0.001). The disease free survival rates in the treated group was 52%, 38%, 35% and 23% at one, three, five and seven years, respectively.
From January 2005 to January 2012, among 3144 consecutive cirrhosis patients, 772 had HCC with MPVTT; of these, 70 patients had a single HCC with MPVTT and were therefore eligible for percutaneous RFA. A total of 48 out of these 70 patients (38 men; mean age 69 years) with 48 HCC nodules 3.7-5.0 cm in diameter invading the main portal trunk (MPT) underwent percutaneous RFA. The remaining 22 matched patients (18 men; mean age 69 years) with 22 HCC nodules 3.6-4.8 cm in diameter extending into the MPT, refused RFA and therefore made up the control group.
Efficacy of RFA was defined complete when both complete necrosis of the HCC and complete re-canalisation of the MPT and its branches were achieved.
"Based on these long-term efficacy data, percutaneous RFA could be considered an effective tool in the treatment of advanced HCC where a single HCC is associated with thrombosis of the main portal vein but these data do need confirmation in a prospective randomized trial," Dr Reeves concluded.
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