Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec;30(4):189-96.
doi: 10.3857/roj.2012.30.4.189. Epub 2012 Dec 31.

Changes of the liver volume and the Child-Pugh score after high dose hypofractionated radiotherapy in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma

Young Il Kim  1 , Hee Chul Park, Do Hoon Lim, Hyo Jung Park, Sang Won Kang, Su Yeon Park, Jin Sung Kim, Youngyih Han, Seung Woon Paik
Affiliations

Changes of the liver volume and the Child-Pugh score after high dose hypofractionated radiotherapy in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma

Young Il Kim et al. Radiat Oncol J. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the safety of high dose hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in terms of liver volumetric changes and clinical liver function.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 16 patients with small HCC who were treated with high dose hypofractionated RT between 2006 and 2009. The serial changes of the liver volumetric parameter were analyzed from pre-RT and follow-up (FU) computed tomography (CT) scans. We estimated linear time trends of whole liver volume using a linear mixed model. The serial changes of the Child-Pugh (CP) scores were also analyzed in relation to the volumetric changes.

Results: Mean pre-RT volume of entire liver was 1,192.2 mL (range, 502.6 to 1,310.2 mL) and mean clinical target volume was 14.7 mL (range, 1.56 to 70.07 mL). Fourteen (87.5%) patients had 4 FU CT sets and 2 (12.5%) patients had 3 FU CT sets. Mean interval between FU CT acquisition was 2.5 months. After considering age, gender and the irradiated liver volume as a fixed effects, the mixed model analysis confirmed that the change in liver volume is not significant throughout the time course of FU periods. Majority of patients had a CP score change less than 2 except in 1 patient who had CP score change more than 3.

Conclusion: The high dose hypofractionated RT for small HCC is relatively safe and feasible in terms of liver volumetric changes and clinical liver function.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Radiotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Treatment outcomes; (A) the overall survival rate (OSR), (B) the local control rate (LCR), and (C) the intra-hepatic control rate (IHCR).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The absolute (A) and relative (B) changes of whole liver volume along the follow-up periods.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The absolute (A) and relative (B) the change of Child-Pugh score along the follow-up periods.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Korean Liver Cancer Study Group and National Cancer Center, Korea. Practice guidelines for management of hepatocellular carcinoma 2009. Korean J Hepatol. 2009;15:391–423. - PubMed
    1. Kokudo N, Makuuchi M. Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan: the J-HCC guidelines. J Gastroenterol. 2009;44(Suppl 19):119–121. - PubMed
    1. Forner A, Reig ME, de Lope CR, Bruix J. Current strategy for staging and treatment: the BCLC update and future prospects. Semin Liver Dis. 2010;30:61–74. - PubMed
    1. Zhou XD, Tang ZY, Yang BH, et al. Experience of 1000 patients who underwent hepatectomy for small hepatocellular carcinoma. Cancer. 2001;91:1479–1486. - PubMed
    1. Llovet JM, Fuster J, Bruix J. Intention-to-treat analysis of surgical treatment for early hepatocellular carcinoma: resection versus transplantation. Hepatology. 1999;30:1434–1440. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources