Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Dec 27, 2017; 9(12): 256-263
Published online Dec 27, 2017. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v9.i12.256
Hepatocellular carcinoma with child Pugh-A Cirrhosis treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy
Shaakir Hasan, Ngoc Thai, Tadahiro Uemura, Vijay Kudithipudi, Paul Renz, Stephen Abel, Alexander V Kirichenko
Shaakir Hasan, Ngoc Thai, Tadahiro Uemura, Vijay Kudithipudi, Paul Renz, Stephen Abel, Alexander V Kirichenko, Division of Radiation Oncology, Allegheny General Hospital Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, United States
Ngoc Thai, Tadahiro Uemura, Division of Transplant Surgery, Allegheny General Hospital Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, United States
Author contributions: Hasan S, Kudithipudi V, Renz P and Abel S collected data; Kirichenko AV designed the study; Hasan S drafted of the manuscript; all others contributed to writing, editing and revisions.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Allegheny Health Network Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was not required for this retrospective study as the analysis used anonymous clinical data obtained retrospectively after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent. Permission for waiver of consent was obtained through by the Allegheny Health Network Institutional Review Board.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We have no financial relationships to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Shaakir Hasan, Division of Radiation Oncology, Allegheny General Hospital Cancer Institute, 320 East North Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15212, United States. shaakir.hasan@ahn.org
Telephone: +1-412-3593400 Fax: +1-412-3593171
Received: October 11, 2017
Peer-review started: October 12, 2017
First decision: November 7, 2017
Revised: November 15, 2017
Accepted: December 5, 2017
Article in press: December 5, 2017
Published online: December 27, 2017
Processing time: 76 Days and 12.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: This retrospective review demonstrates excellent long term local control of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in early stage cirrhosis treated by Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), while retaining hepatic function. However, the overall prognosis of HCC remains poor despite successful local therapy and transplant remains the standard of care. Given the rising incidence of HCC, liver procurement and selection of candidates for transplant will become increasingly stringent. The long term control and maintenance of hepatic reserve demonstrated in this series suggests that SBRT as a bridging therapy may extend waiting time for transplant in patients who may not otherwise be immediate candidates for it.