Single hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ineligible for surgical resection (SR): High tumor control rate with conformal radiotherapy + transarterial chemoembolization (CRT + TACE).

Abstract

433 Background: SR is a curative therapy of single HCC. CRT is efficient for small HCC (≤ 5 cm), whereas its combination to TACE (CRT+TACE) is needed for large ( > 5 cm) HCC. However, SR remains the gold-standard in guidelines for large HCC. This work aims to compare these approaches. Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data, on patients (pts) included at Lyon North Hepatobiliary Centre, Child-Pugh-A, single HCC. CRT+TACE was decided at the HCC board by ineligibility for SR, radiofrequency or liver transplantation. Outcome of pts was compared between CRT+TACE and SR. Continuous variables were assessed by the t-Student test, and survival analysis by the Cox proportional-hazards regression. Results: 178 pts (68 CRT+TACE, 110 SR), males 78%, cirrhosis 52%, etiology (alcohol 46%, HCV 17%, HBV 13%, NASH 30%), 103 small, 75 large HCC, median age 66 ys, tumor size 50 mm, AFP 8 ng/mL, albuminemia (ALB) 39 g/L, platelets (PLAT) 166 Giga/L, follow-up 33 months. CRT+TACE complete response rate: 92% small / 80% large HCC. Small HCC comparison: CRT+TACE vs SR: age (67 vs 64, P= NS), cirrhosis (94% vs 47%, P< 0.0001), ALB (36 vs 40, P= 0.0001), PLAT (150 vs 201, P= 0.02), AFP (381 vs 300, P= NS). CRT-TACE was a poor outcome factor in univariate analysis for overall survival (OS) (HR 2.32; P= 0.01), progression-free survival (PFS) (HR 1.90; P= 0.007), but did not remain independent in multivariate analysis due to combined factors: age > 70, cirrhosis, ALB < 35, PLAT < 100. Large HCC comparison: CRT+TACE vs SR: age (73 vs 62, P= 0.0008), cirrhosis (70% vs 25%, P= 0.0004), ALB (38 vs 39, P= NS), PLAT (173 vs 240, P= 0.01), AFP (5616 vs 3456, P= NS). CRT-TACE was a poor outcome factor only for OS (HR 3.01; P= 0.0007) in univariate analysis. After adjustment to other factors (age > 70, cirrhosis, PLAT < 100), CRT-TACE was not independent in multivariate analysis for OS ( P= 0.19). Conclusions: CRT+TACE induced an encouraging tumor control rate in a population of older pts, more deteriorated chronic hepatopathy than pts treated by SR. Especially for large HCC, SR was not better than CRT+TACE on the outcome. Prospective randomized trials are warranted to confirm these data.