Intermediate-advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in Argentina: Treatment and survival analysis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the sixteenth most frequent cancer in Argentina. The rise of new therapeutic modalities in intermediate-advanced HCC opens up a new paradigm for the treatment of HCC.

To describe real-life treatments performed in patients with intermediate-advanced HCC before the approval of new systemic options.

This longitudinal observational cohort study was conducted between 2009 and 2016 in 14 different regional hospitals from Argentina. Included subjects had intermediate-advanced Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) HCC stages (BCLC B to D). Primary end point analyzed was survival, which was assessed for each BCLC stage from the date of treatment until last patient follow-up or death. Kaplan Meier survival curves and Cox regression analysis were performed, with hazard ratios (HR) calculations and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).

From 327 HCC patients, 41% were BCLC stage B, 20% stage C and 39% stage D. Corresponding median survival were 15 mo (IQR 5-26 mo), 5 mo (IQR 2-13 mo) and 3 mo (IQR 1-13 mo) (P < 0.0001), respectively. Among BCLC-B patients (n = 135), 57% received TACE with a median number of 2 sessions (IQR 1-3 sessions). Survival was significantly better in BCLC-B patients treated with TACE HR = 0.29 (CI: 0.21-0.40) than those without TACE. After tumor reassessment by RECIST 1.1 criteria following the first TACE, patients with complete response achieved longer survival [HR = 0.15 (CI: 0.04-0.56, P = 0.005)]. Eighty-two patients were treated with sorafenib, mostly BCLC-B and C (87.8%). However, 12.2% were BCLC-D. Median survival with sorafenib was 4.5 mo (IQR 2.3-11.7 mo); which was lower among BCLC-D patients 3.2 mo (IQR 2.0-14.1 mo). A total of 36 BCLC-B patients presented tumor progression after TACE. In these patients, treatment with sorafenib presented better survival when compared to those patients who received sorafenib without prior TACE [HR = 0.26 (CI: 0.09-0.71); P = 0.013].

In this real setting, our results were lower than expected. This highlights unmet needs in Argentina, prior to the introduction of new treatments for HCC.