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Long-term survival with sorafenib-based multidisciplinary treatment for Vp4 hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report

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Abstract

The prognosis of highly advanced unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with a portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) is poor. There are currently no reports of long-term survival for up to 5 years in patients with advanced HCC who were treated with sorafenib. We describe a patient with Vp4 HCC who was treated with a sorafenib-based multidisciplinary treatment and experienced long-term survival, which may be the longest survival to date. A man in his late 60 s presented with general fatigue. Eight years previously, he received interferon monotherapy for chronic hepatitis C for 48 weeks and achieved a sustained virological response. He was diagnosed with a PVTT (Vp4) with diffuse-type HCC in the S6 lobe of the liver. He received hepatic arterial infusion of chemotherapy using 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin. Because of the occurrence of adverse effects, he was placed on sorafenib treatment. The treatment was effective and the HCC reduced. However, after 3 years of treatment, a 2-cm HCC was observed in the S5 lobe, and the patient underwent laparoscopic partial hepatectomy. After the operation, he continued to receive sorafenib, with no obvious recurrence, and survived for over 108 months after the first treatment. There are currently no reported cases of long-term progression-free survival by sorafenib for five years in patients of Vp4 HCC. In conclusion, we report a case of longest survival of a patient with Vp4 HCC treated with sorafenib-based multidisciplinary treatment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for the English language review

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Training Center, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8522, Japan

    Hibiki Narita

  2. Department of Gastroenterology and Metabolism, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8522, Japan

    Hideto Kawaratani, Akihiko Shibamoto, Soichi Takeda, Takahiro Ozutsumi, Yuki Tsuji, Yukihisa Fujinaga, Koh Kitagawa, Norihisa Nishimura & Hitoshi Yoshiji

  3. Department of Surgery, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8522, Japan

    Daisuke Hokuto & Masayuki Sho

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  1. Hibiki Narita
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  2. Hideto Kawaratani
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  3. Akihiko Shibamoto
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  4. Soichi Takeda
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  5. Takahiro Ozutsumi
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  10. Daisuke Hokuto
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  11. Masayuki Sho
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  12. Hitoshi Yoshiji
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection and analysis were performed by AS. Preparation of figures and tables was performed by ST and TO. The operative procedure was performed by DH and MS. Technical support was provided by YT, YF, KK, and NN. The first draft of the manuscript was written by HN. The final draft of the manuscript was reviewed by HK and HY. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hideto Kawaratani.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

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Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for the publication of the case report.

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Narita, H., Kawaratani, H., Shibamoto, A. et al. Long-term survival with sorafenib-based multidisciplinary treatment for Vp4 hepatocellular carcinoma: a case report. Clin J Gastroenterol 15, 953–959 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-022-01667-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-022-01667-9

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