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Liang Yin,1,&ast; Kai-Cai Liu,2,&ast; Wei-Fu Lv,1 Shao-Bao Xu,2 Dong Lu,1 Chun-Ze Zhou,1 De-Lei Cheng,1 Zong-Gen Gao,2 Chang-Sheng Shi,2 Ming-Xue Su2 1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230022, People’s Republic of China; 2Infection Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230000, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wei-Fu Lv, Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230000, People’s Republic of China, Email weifulv@ustc.edu.cnObjective: To validate the robust predictive values of tumor vascularity and reactive cutaneous capillary endothelial proliferation (RCCEP) in combination treatment of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and camrelizumab for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and then select the potential candidates who would survive best from such treatment.Methods: The clinical data of 113 patients with advanced HCC treated with TACE and camrelizumab from January 2019 to December 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Mann Whitney U-test was used to evaluate the correlation between vascular distribution and RCCEP and tumor response; Kaplan Meier technique was used to evaluate time to progress (TTP) and overall survival (OS), and log rank test was used for comparison; multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the related influencing factors.Results: The TTP and OS of TACE combined with carrelizumab in patients with advanced HCC were 7.1 and 14.3 months. Hypervascularity and development of RCCEP were good predictors of TTP (HR 2.561, P < 0.001; HR 1.486, P = 0.032) and OS (HR 2.854, P < 0.001; HR 1.634, P = 0.011). The median TTP and OS of patients with hypervascularity and RCCEP were 10.6 and 19.3 months, which were better than those with only hypervascularity (6.8 months, P = 0.016; 11.6 months, P = 0.003) and only RCCEP (6.2 months, P = 0.039; 13.5 months, P = 0.042), as well as those with neither (3.8 months, P < 0.001; 7.4 months, P < 0.001).Conclusion: Tumor hypervascularity and development of RCCEP were favorable predictive factors for the combination treatment of TACE and carrelizumab, with both of which the patients survived longest and might be the potential candidates.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, transarterial chemoembolization, camrelizumab, vascularity, RCCEP

Xiao-Hong Xie,* Fei Wang,* Xin-Qing Lin, Yin-Yin Qin, Zhan-Hong Xie, Jie-Xia Zhang, Ming Ouyang, Cheng-Zhi Zhou State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of the Respiratory Health, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Cheng-Zhi ZhouState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of the Respiratory Health, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-20-83062830Email zhouchengzhi@gird.cnObjective: The study aimed to analyze the efficacy and safety of combination regimen of anlotinib and S-1 for Chinese patients with EGFR mutation-negative advanced squamous cell lung cancer (SqCLC) with poor performance status (PS,2– 3) after progression of second-line or later-line chemotherapy.Methods: Clinical data of 70 SqCLC patients with PS scores of 2– 3 treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between January 1, 2018 to September 31, 2019 who failed second- or more-line treatment were analysed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two treatment groups: anlotinib (12mg) plus S-1 (25mg) combination group and anlotinib (12mg) monotherapy group. The efficacy and adverse reactions of the two groups were compared.Results: In terms of the short-term efficacy, there were no significant differences in objective response rate (ORR) (20.0% vs 10.0%, p = 0.464) and disease control rate (DCR) (75.0% vs 60.0%, p = 0.181) between the two groups. As for the long-term efficacy, there was no significant difference in progression-free survival (PFS) between the two groups (3.87± 0.29 months vs 3.00± 0.24 months, p=0. 11). The overall survival (OS) of patients in the combination group was longer than S1 group (8.07± 0.56 months vs 6.17± 0.42 months, p=0.022).Conclusion: Advanced SqCLC patients with higher PS scores still benefit from anlotinib and S-1 combination regimen, even after they failed second-line or later-line systemic treatment.Keywords: anlotinib, S-1, advanced squamous cell lung cancer, performance status, efficacy

Kai-Cai Liu,1,* Ying-Hong Hao,2,* Wei-Fu Lv,2 Wei-Dong Jia,3 Chu-Shu Ji,4 Chun-Ze Zhou,2 De-Lei Cheng,2 Shao-Bao Xu,1 Zong-Gen Gao,1 Ming-Xue Su,1 Chang-Sheng Shi1 1Infection Hospital, Anhui Provincial Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230022, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230022, People’s Republic of China; 4Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230022, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wei-Fu LvDepartment of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230022, People’s Republic of ChinaTel/ Fax +86 551 6228 3139Email weifulv@ustc.edu.cnPurpose: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and targeted therapy have become common methods in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TACE combined with sorafenib (TACE-sorafenib) and TACE alone for the treatment of Barcelona clinical stage C HCC.Methods: The clinical data of 75 patients with BCLC stage C HCC who received TACE-sorafenib or TACE as the initial treatment were retrospectively analyzed. Tumor response, time to progression (TTP), overall survival (OS), and adverse events were compared at 1 month after surgery in the two groups.Results: One month after treatment, the disease control rate in the TACE-sorafenib group was higher than that in the TACE group alone (82.76% and 57.50%, respectively, P = 0.018). The median values of TTP and OS in the TACE-sorafenib group were longer than those in the TACE group (TTP was 7.6 and 3.4 months, respectively, P = 0.002; OS was 13.6 and 6.3 months, respectively, P = 0.041). The cumulative survival time at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year was higher in the TACE-sorafenib group than in the TACE group (83.5%, 71.2%, 45.7% vs 57.4%, 40.6%, 21.2%). Sorafenib-related side effects such as hypertension, hand-foot syndrome, and oral ulcers were more common than those in the TACE group alone (P< 0.05).Conclusion: Compared with TACE treatment alone, TACE combined with sorafenib in BCLC-C stage HCC significantly improved disease control rate, TTP, and OS, and no significant increase in adverse reactions was observed.Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, TACE, sorafenib, survival

Wei-Fu Lv, Kai-Cai Liu, Dong Lu, Chun-Ze Zhou, De-Lei Cheng, Jing-Kun Xiao, Xing-Ming Zhang, Zheng-Feng Zhang Department of Interventional Radiology, Anhui Provincial Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China Objectives: To explore the efficacy and influencing factors of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) combined with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT).Materials and methods: The clinical data of 3,126 consecutive patients who suffered from advanced HCC and underwent TACE were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 685 patients had a combination of HCC and PVTT. Of these patients, 475 were treated with TACE (Group A) and 210 were given a supportive care (Group B). The local response and overall survival of the two groups were observed and compared, and the influencing factors were examined through Cox regression analysis.Results: The median survival time and cumulative survival rate at 6, 12, and 24 months of Group A were higher than those of Group B (P=0.002). Multiple Cox regression analysis revealed that Child–Pugh classes and PVTT grades were the independent prognostic factors affecting a patient’s survival. Stratified analysis demonstrated that the survival time of patients diagnosed with grades I/II PVTT and treated with TACE was superior to that of patients provided with supportive care (P=0.001), but the survival time of patients with grades III/IV PVTT with or without TACE did not significantly differ (P=0.662).Conclusion: TACE can significantly improve local response, increase cumulative survival rate, and prolong the survival duration of patients with HCC and grades I/II PVTT, whereas the efficacy of TACE for patients with grades III/IV PVTT should be further verified, although their local responses were improved. Child–Pugh classes and PVTT grades are essential factors influencing patient prognosis. Keywords: HCC, TACE, portal vein tumor thrombus, survival analysis