Pipeline

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)

Hepatocellular carcinoma, or hepatoma, is a primary cancer of the liver. There are approximately one million new cases of hepatoma worldwide each year (Barlett 2005). HCC is a life-threatening condition associated with a 5-year survival rate of only 0-10% (Bruix 2005). The median survival for newly diagnosed cases classified as unresectable at diagnosis is 6-10 months in most published reports (Chaparro 2008, El-Serag 2007, Yeo 2006). The majority of HCC cases are considered unresectable with only 5% of HCC patients being candidates for surgery (Jelic 2009). Patient treatments have been completed in a Phase 3 trial of Aptocine in patients with hepatoma. The trial involves 208 patients at sites in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Croatia, Serbia, Poland and Sweden.

References

  • Barlett DL, Carr BI, Marsh JW. Cancer of the liver. In: DeVita Jr. VT, S. H, Rosenberg SA, eds. Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, ed. 7th Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005:986-1009.
  • Bruix J, Sherman M. Management of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatology 2005;42(5):1208-36
  • Chaparro M, Gonzalez Moreno L, Trapero-Marugan M, Medina J, Moreno-Otero R. Review article: pharmacological therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma with sorafenib and other oral agents. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2008;28(11-12):1269-77.
  • El-Serag HB. Epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma in USA. Hepatol Res 2007;37 Suppl 2:S88-94.
  • Jelic S. Hepatocellular carcinoma: ESMO Clinical Recommendations for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Ann Oncol 2009;20 Suppl 4:iv41-iv45.
  • Yeo W, Mo FKF, Koh J, Chan ATC, Leung T, Hui P, et al. Quality of life is predictive of survival in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Ann Oncol 2006;17(7):1083-9.