AUTHOR=Schütte Kerstin , Kupčinskas Juozas , Morkunas Egidijus , Öcal Osman , Schinner Regina , Seidensticker Max , De Toni Enrico N. , Ben Khaled Najib , Pech Maciej , Palmer Daniel , Berg Thomas , Sengel Christian , Basu Bristi , Valle Juan W. , Benckert Julia , Gasbarrini Antonio , Sangro Bruno , Malfertheiner Peter , Ricke Jens 

TITLE=Dynamics in Circulating Proinflammatory Biomarkers for Prognostic Assessment of Patients With Advanced HCC – A Substudy From the SORAMIC Trial

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Gastroenterology

VOLUME=Volume 1 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/gastroenterology/articles/10.3389/fgstr.2022.939192

DOI=10.3389/fgstr.2022.939192

ISSN=2813-1169

ABSTRACT=Introduction
Prediction of response to treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may assist in selection of a personalized management. 
Objective
This exploratory analysis of the palliative arm of the SORAMIC trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01126645) evaluated the prognostic potential of basal and dynamic changes in systemic levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), systemic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS).
Methods 
We evaluated the correlations between overall survival (OS) and concentrations of IL-6, IL-8, VEGF and LPS at follow-up approximately 7-9 weeks after treatment initialization (FU) compared to baseline (BL) in 90 patients treated either with 90Yttrium (90Y) microspheres combined with sorafenib (n = 44) or with sorafenib (n = 46) alone. 
Results
Changes in IL-6 concentration during treatment showed correlations with outcome. An increase in IL-6 concentration of less than 16.8 pg/mL over baseline readings was associated with better survival (median OS 16.3 months compared with 8.9 months (p = 0.0354)). Correlations with survival were not observed for VEGF or LPS concentrations at baseline, at FU or changes between these timepoints. 
Conclusions
Changes of IL 6 serum levels at 7-9 weeks after treatment initialization but not of IL 8, VEGF and LPS add important information on outcome of advanced HCC patients treated palliatively within the SORAMIC trial.