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Dynamics in Circulating Proinflammatory Biomarkers for Prognostic Assessment of Patients With Advanced HCC - A
Kerstin Schütte1,2,3, Juozas Kupčinskas4, Egidijus Morkunas4
1Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
Introduction:
Prediction of response to treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may assist in the selection of personalized management.
Objective:
This exploratory analysis of the palliative arm of the SORAMIC trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01126645) evaluated the prognostic potential of basal and dynamic changes in systemic levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), systemic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and lipopolysaccharide (LPS).
Methods:
We evaluated the correlations between overall survival (OS) and concentrations of IL-6, IL-8, VEGF, and LPS at follow-up approximately 7-9 weeks after treatment initialization (FU) compared to baseline (BL) in 90 patients treated either with 90Yttrium (90Y) microspheres combined with sorafenib (n = 44) or with sorafenib (n = 46) alone.
Results:
Changes in IL-6 concentration during treatment showed correlations with the outcome. An increase in IL-6 concentration of less than 16.8 pg/mL over baseline readings was associated with better survival [median OS 16.3 months compared with 8.9 months (p = 0.0354)]. Correlations with survival were not observed for VEGF or LPS concentrations at baseline, at FU, or changes between these time points.
Conclusions:
Changes in IL 6 serum levels at 7-9 weeks after treatment initialization but not in IL 8, VEGF, or LPS add important information on the outcome of advanced HCC patients treated palliatively within the SORAMIC trial.
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