A single-institute experience with sorafenib in untreated and previously treated patients with advanced...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. Sorafenib is considered the standard of care for patients with advanced HCC.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of our cancer center's experience with sorafenib in patients with advanced HCC. Eligible patients were required to have measurable disease and were allowed to have been refractory (with documented progression) to prior systemic therapies before starting on sorafenib.

Twenty-six patients (median age = 56 years) who were treated at the Ohio State University with sorafenib were included in this study. Thirty-eight percent had exposure to prior systemic therapy. The median time to tumor progression was 5.4 months and the median overall survival 7 months. For the patients with exposure to prior systemic therapy, the median time to tumor progression was 9.1 months and is the median overall survival 9.83 months. There were no unexpected toxicities.

Sorafenib has interesting activity and acceptable tolerability in patients with advanced HCC, including those who failed prior therapies.