Hypofractionated Proton Beam Radiotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

A Phase II Study Using Hypofractionated Proton Beam Radiotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

This phase II study is to evaluate the effectiveness of hypofractionated proton beam therapy (PBT) for HCC patients in hepatitis B endemic area.

The primary endpoint is local progression free survival. The trial is a single arm phase II trial with the historical arm. The expected 3-year local progression free survival for patient with HCC patients treated with proton beam therapy would be 80%. With a power of 80% and a type I error level of 10%, evaluable 40 patients are required to reject that the null hypothesis that true 3-year local progression free survival rate is ≤65%. Considering the 10% unevaluable patients due to loss of follow up, a total 45 eligible patients for each arms will be enrolled.

Inclusion Criteria:

• HCC diagnosed as (i) the presence of risk factors including hepatitis B or C virus and liver cirrhosis, a serum a-fetoprotein (AFP) level greater than 200 IU/ml and a radiologically compatible feature with HCC in one or more CT/MRI/angiograms, or (ii) the presence of risk factors including hepatitis B or C virus and liver cirrhosis, a serum a-fetoprotein (AFP) level less than 200 IU/ml, and a radiologically compatible feature with HCC in two or more CT/MRI/angiograms or (iii) histological confirmation
• HCC patients who were not prospective suitable or refused for any other treatment, such as surgery or local ablation therapy, or recurrent or residual tumor after other treatments.
• without evidence of extrahepatic metastasis
• All target tumors must be encompassable within single irradiation field (15x15 cm maximum)
• no previous treatment to target tumors by other forms of RT
• liver function of Child-Pugh class A or B7 (Child-Pugh score of ≤7)
• Age of ≥18 years
• performance status of 0 to 2 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score
• WBC count ≥ 2,000/mm3; hemoglobin level ≥ 7.5 g/dL; platelet count ≥ 25,000/mm3; and adequate hepatic function (total bilirubin ≤ 3.0 mg/dL; AST and ALT < 5.0× upper limit of normal; no ascites)
• no serious comorbidities other than liver cirrhosis
• written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• evidence of extrahepatic metastasis
• age < 18 years
• liver function of Child-Pugh class B8-9 and C (Child-Pugh score of >7)
• previous history of other forms of RT adjacent to target tumors
• poor performance status of 3 to 4 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score
• multicentric HCCs, except for those with the following two conditions: *multinodular aggregating HCC that could be encompassed by single clinical target volume and within single irradiation field (15x15 cm maximum) *lesions other than targeted tumor that were judged as controlled with prior surgery and/or local ablation therapy.