Vnitr Lek 2011, 57(5):485-490

Sorafenib in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

G. Suchánková^*, J. Špičák

Klinika hepatogastroenterologie IKEM Praha, přednosta prof. MUDr. Julius Špičák, CSc.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 5th most frequent tumour disease and, at the same time, the 3rd most frequent cause of death from cancer worldwide. More than 600 000 new patients are diagnosed every year and more than 80% are diagnosed at an advance stage where surgical treatment is not indicated and systemic chemotherapy does not provide longer survival time. Sorafenib is the first substance that provides proven significant prolongation of survival time of HCC patients. This is a multikinase inhibitor with anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic properties. Its efficacy was shown in the SHARP study that enabled licensing of sorafenib for the therapy of inoperable, metastasizing hepatocellular carcinoma, including patients with liver cirrhosis, functional class Child-Pugh A or B, in more than 60 countries worldwide, including the Czech Republic. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive summary of the current treatment of HCC and, at the same time, to point out some new therapeutic approaches that, in the near future, shall certainly play a major role in the treatment of HCC.

Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma; SHARP study; sorafenib; biological treatment

Received: October 20, 2010; Accepted: November 29, 2010; Published: May 1, 2011  Show citation