Targeted therapies: Doxorubicin and sorafenib improves survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

摘要

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide and over half a million cases are diagnosed annually. The prognosis for patients with unresectable or metastatic disease is dismal with most patients only surviving a few months following diagnosis. Doxorubicin has become a routinely used agent for the treatment of HCC, despite no evidence of a clear survival benefit. In a randomized, double-blinded, phase III trial of patients with advanced HCC and Child-Pugh A cirrhosis, the oral multikinase inhibitor, sorafenib, has demonstrated a significant overall survival advantage.