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Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Cases of HCC in the U.S. have nearly doubled during the past decade because of a rise in the incidence of hepatitis C virus infection. Sorafenib, a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, improves progression-free and overall survival in patients with advanced HCC (JW Oncol Hematol Jul 23 2008) and is the only FDA-approved therapy for this disease. Conventional chemotherapy, in contrast, has little or no effectiveness for advanced HCC.
In a phase II trial, investigators randomized 96 chemotherapy-naive patients with metastatic or unresectable HCC and Child-Pugh class A liver function to receive oral sorafenib (400 mg twice daily) plus doxorubicin (…