Cryotherapy is associated with improved clinical outcomes of sorafenib for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Sorafenib may prolong survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but with limited efficacy. The present study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of sorafenib combined with cryotherapy (cryoRx) for the treatment of advanced HCC. A total of 104 patients met the following criteria: advanced HCC without distant metastasis, presence of portal vein thrombosis, Child-Pugh class A or B and life expectancy of at least 12 weeks. All patients were randomly assigned to sorafenib and cryoRx (n=52) or sorafenib-alone (n=52) treatment groups. The primary end-point of the study was overall survival (OS). The secondary end-points included time to progression (TTP) and tolerability. Microvessel density (MVD) was assessed following immunostaining for CD34. In a median of 10.5 (4-26) months follow-up, the median OS was 12.5 months (95% CI 10.6-16.4) in the combination therapy vs. 8.6 months (7.3-10.4) in the sorafenib-alone (P=0.01) group. The median TTP was 9.5 months (8.4-13.5) in the combination therapy vs. 5.3 months (3.8-6.9) in the sorafenib alone (P=0.02) group. CryoRx was an independent factor associated with improved clinical outcomes of sorafenib for the treatment of advanced HCC. Patients with low intratumoral MVD receiving the combination therapy exhibited a significantly longer median TTP and OS compared to those receiving sorafenib. High intratumoral MVD was an independent predictor of poor responses to sorafenib for advanced HCC. Compared with previous reports of sorafenib-related adverse drug reactions (ADRs), cryoRx did not further increase the frequency and degree of sorafenib-related ADRs. In conclusion, compared to sorafenib alone, the addition of cryoRx to sorafenib significantly improves the clinical outcomes of sorafenib for the treatment of advanced HCC with acceptable tolerance and similar safety profiles as previously reported. High intratumoral MVD is predictive of poor responses to sorafenib in advanced HCC patients.