Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Oct 24, 2024; 15(10): 1342-1350
Published online Oct 24, 2024. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i10.1342
Hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy combined with systemic therapy in metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma: A case report
Qiu-Qiu Chen, Chun-Qiao Chen, Jin-Kun Liu, Ming-Yue Huang, Min Pan, Hui Huang
Qiu-Qiu Chen, Chun-Qiao Chen, Jin-Kun Liu, Ming-Yue Huang, Min Pan, Hui Huang, Department of Oncology, People’s Hospital of Guilin, Guilin 541002, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Co-first authors: Qiu-Qiu Chen and Chun-Qiao Chen.
Author contributions: Chen QQ and Huang H designed the research; Chen QQ, Chen CQ, Liu JK and Pan M performed the research; Liu JK, Huang MY and Pan M analyzed the data; Chen QQ, Chen CQ and Huang H wrote the paper. Chen QQ and Chen CQ contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Supported by Guangxi Guilin Science and Technology Fund, No. 20220139-9-8.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui Huang, MD, Doctor, Department of Oncology, People’s Hospital of Guilin, No. 12 Wenming Road, Guilin 541002, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. huanghui25002@163.com
Received: April 8, 2024
Revised: August 16, 2024
Accepted: August 21, 2024
Published online: October 24, 2024
Processing time: 174 Days and 3.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Liver cancer treatment is characterized by multidisciplinary participation and coexistence of multiple treatment methods. Hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy is a new precise radiotherapy technique applied to the treatment of systemic malignant tumors. There is a lack of understanding of hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy combined with systemic therapy in metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

CASE SUMMARY

We report a case of metastatic HCC treated with hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy combined with systemic therapy. A 41-year-old man was diagnosed with metastatic HCC (T3N1M1 stage IVB). Because it was found to be in the late stage of cancer and had already metastasized, it was impossible to undergo surgical treatment. In addition to aggressive comprehensive treatment for the primary lesion, local treatment for metastatic cancer can improve the patient's survival potential. Hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy can provide a larger single treatment dose within a shorter overall treatment time, and improve the local control rate of the tumor. Follow-up examination demonstrated that the tumor and metastatic lesions had shrunk after therapy. The treatment has showed good efficacy. The patient survived for 18 months without disease progression and stable disease persisted for > 38 months.

CONCLUSION

Targeted therapy and immunotherapy followed by hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy are also effective for advanced metastatic HCC.

Keywords: Hypofractionated therapy; Intensity-modulated radiation; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Metastasis; Case report

Core Tip: We report a 41-year-old man diagnosed with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (T3N1M1 stage IVB), and discuss its imaging and hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy combined with systemic therapy. The treatment showed good efficacy. The patient survived for 18 months without disease progression and stable disease persisted for > 38 months. These findings demonstrated that targeted therapy and immunotherapy followed by hypofractionated and intensity-modulated radiotherapy is a promising treatment regimen for advanced metastatic HCC, which is safe and controllable.