REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Hepato Pancreatic Biliary Cancers
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1652434
Efficacy and safety of antiangiogenic agents combined with HIFU in the treatment of advanced liver cancer
Provisionally accepted
Rong Wu1*
ling qiu Shi1,2
biao dong Liao1yao liao1feng sun3yu he3yang pei mao2li ling fan1xi yu bai1gang feng1*- 1Department of Oncology, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, China
- 2School of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 3Department of Radiology, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, China
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Background: Although antiangiogenic agents and HIFU (High-intensity focused ultrasound) are extensively used in the systematic treatment of advanced primary and secondary liver cancer, respectively, the efficacy and safety of their combination remain unclear. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy, safety, and synergistic effect of the combination of antiangiogenic drugs with HIFU in the treatment of advanced liver cancer. Methods: Advanced liver cancer patients undergoing HIFU were included and matched 1:1 to two groups based on admission criteria: patients who received HIFU combined with antiangiogenic agents were assigned to the Combined HIFU group, whereas those who received HIFU but not antiangiogenic agents were assigned to the Only HIFU group. Then, therapeutic parameters, short-term efficacy, long-term survival, and safety of HIFU were analyzed and compared in this study. Results: There were 25 cases in both the Combined HIFU and Only HIFU groups. A significant difference was noted in the median ultrasound grayscale (hyperechoic region) occurrence time between the two groups (p=0.04). The coagulative necrosis rate, ORR, and DCR of liver lesions were numerically higher in the Combined HIFU group (60%, 64%, and 96%) than those in the Only HIFU group (44%, 36%, and 84%). Contrastingly, mOS did not differ significantly between the two groups. (HR,0.91; 95% CI, 0.45 to 1.82; p=0.79). Finally, Acute adverse events (AEs) primarily included skin-burning pain, fever, and impaired liver function, and the incidence of infectious fever and impaired liver function was lower in the combined HIFU group. Conclusion: Antiangiogenic agents combined with HIFU are effective and safe in the treatment of advanced primary and secondary liver cancer.
Keywords: liver cancer, Antiangiogenic agents, High-intensity focused ultrasound, ultrasound grayscale, coagulative necrosis
Received: 23 Jun 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Shi, Liao, liao, sun, he, mao, fan, bai and feng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Rong Wu, Department of Oncology, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, China
gang feng, Department of Oncology, Mianyang Central Hospital, Mianyang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.