Sorafenib after resection improves the outcome of BCLC stage C hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To evaluate whether sorafenib use after resection impacts tumor relapse and survival in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage C hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 36 male BCLC stage C HCC patients with portal vein thrombus and Child-Pugh class A liver function. Twenty-four patients received only surgical resection (SR), and 12 patients received oral sorafenib within 30 d after surgery. The primary outcomes were time to progression (TTP) (the time from surgical resection until HCC recurrence or extrahepatic metastases) and overall survival (OS). The secondary outcome was the rate of postoperative recurrence or metastasis. TTP and OS were analyzed using Kaplan Meier curves. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups in the serum levels of alpha-fetoprotein, copies of hepatitis B virus-DNA, preoperative laboratory results, degree of hepatic fibrosis, types of portal vein tumor thrombus, number of satellite lesions, tumor diameter, pathological results, volume of blood loss, volume of blood transfusion, or surgery time (all p > 0.05). Patients in the SR + sorafenib group had a significantly longer TTP (29 mo vs 22 mo, p = 0.041) and a significantly longer median OS (37 mo vs 30 mo, p = 0.01) compared to patients in the SR group. The SR group had 18 cases (75%) of recurrence/metastasis while the SR + sorafenib group had six cases (50%) of recurrence/metastasis. A total of 19 patients died after surgery (five in the SR + sorafenib group and 14 in the SR group). The most common sorafenib-related adverse events were skin reactions, diarrhea, and hypertension, all of which were resolved with treatment. CONCLUSION: Sorafenib after SR was well-tolerated. Patients who received sorafenib after SR had better outcomes compared to patients who received only SR.