SURVIVAL AND TOXICITY AFTER TREATMENT WITH SORAFENIB IN UNRESECTABLE HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common neoplasms worldwide, with progressive incidence on age, predominantly on male, and the third cause of cancer related death. Materials and Methods: The study is retrospective and analyzes 33 patients with unresectable HCC, treated with Sorafenib, at the Emergency Clinical Hospital "Sf. Ap. Andrei" Galati during the period 2012-2017. Inclusion criteria: unresectable advanced HCC without Transarterial Chemoembolization (TACE), TACE-resistant or TACE-progression illness, Child-Pugh score A (CPA) or Child-Pugh score B (CPB); IP = 0-1, signing informed consent. Results: Median age was 67 years (range 38-84 years), 78.79% of cases were male, 42.42% of patients presented CPA score; Hepatic C Virus (HCV) infection was proven in 51.52% of cases and tumor less than 5 cm had 54.54% of cases. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) values 500 ng/ml were recorded in 33.33% of cases, and 66.66% of patients were treated with Sorafenib >48 weeks. The most commonly adverse reactions were: fatigue, hand-foot syndrome, anemia and diarrhea, respectively in 90.91%, 84.85%, 66.67% and 51.51%. Overall survival (OS) was 36%, median of 11 months (3-27 months). Correlation analysis showed OS significantly higher in patients with cutaneous toxicity (p=0.004) and CPA score (p = 0.001). Conclusions: HCC is one of the leading causes of cancer related death worldwide. In our study, the most common adverse reactions following Sorafenib were fatigue, hematological toxicities, anemia and diarrhea.