[Transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization and thymosin alpha1 in postoperative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma].
Cheng. Shu-qun SQ; Wu. Meng-chao MC; Chen. Han H; Shen. Feng F; Yang. Jia-he JH; Cong. Wen-ming WM; Zhao. Yu-xiang YX; Wang. Pei-jun PJ
Key Findings
- Recurrence rates were similar across all groups (around 83‑88%).
- Time to tumor recurrence was longer with thymosin‑alpha‑1 (7 months) versus TACE alone (5 months) or surgery only (4 months).
- Median overall survival improved with thymosin‑alpha‑1 (10 months) compared to TACE alone (7 months) or surgery only (8 months).
Practical Outcomes
- For people dealing with liver cancer after surgery, adding thymosin‑alpha‑1 to the post‑op chemo‑embolization regimen might modestly delay tumor return and extend survival, but the benefit is small and based on limited data. It isn’t a general anti‑aging or performance‑enhancing protocol for healthy individuals.
Summary
In a small study of liver cancer patients who had surgery, adding the immune‑boosting peptide thymosin‑alpha‑1 together with a standard chemo‑embolization treatment didn’t lower how often the cancer came back, but it did seem to push the return of the tumor back by a few months and helped patients live a bit longer on average.
Abstract
To observe the effect of postoperative transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and thymosin alpha(1) (T(alpha1)) treatment on recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). From Jan 2000 to Dec 2002, 57 patients with HCC were randomly divided into three groups: group A (n = 18) received hepatectomy plus postoperative TACE and T(alpha1), group B (n = 23) received hepatectomy plus postoperative TACE and group C (n = 16) received hepatectomy only. The recurrence rate, the time to tumor recurrence and the median survival for the three groups were investigated. For group A, B and C, the 1 year recurrence rate was 83.3%, 87.0% and 87.5% (P = 0.926), respectively. The time to tumor recurrence was 7.0, 5.0 and 4.0 months (P = 0.039), respectively. The median survival was 10.0, 7.0 and 8.0 months (P = 0.002), respectively. Postoperative TACE plus Talpha(1) treatment for HCC patients does not decrease the recurrence rate but may delay its occurrence and prolong surviving time.
Study Information
pubmed
2004