Clinical efficacy of sorafenib in treatment of primary hepatic carcinoma and its effects on serum VEGFR-2 and PLGF levels

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of sorafenib in the treatment of primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) and its effects on serum vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) and placental growth factor (PLGF) levels. Methods A total of 110 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of PHC who received treatment in Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University from July 2014 to March2016 were randomly and equally divided into observation group and control group. The control group was given routine treatment, while the observation group received sorafenib in addition to the routine treatment. Serum levels of VEGFR-2 and PLGF were measured by ELISA.Liver function parameters, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) , prothrombin time (PT) , total bilirubin (TBil) , albumin (Alb) , and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) , were also recorded. Comparison of continuous data between groups was made by independent samples t-test, and the changes in continuous data after intervention in each group were evaluated by paired samples t-test. Comparison of categorical data between groups was made by chi-square test. Results The observation group showed significant reductions in serum VEGFR-2 and PLGF levels after treatment (VEGFR-2: 7053. 2 ± 1836. 1 ng/L vs 8721. 4 ± 2427. 8 ng/L, t = 4. 089, P < 0. 001; PLGF: 468. 4 ± 136. 5 pg/ml vs 656. 8 ± 191. 4 pg/ml, t = 5. 975, P < 0. 001) . After treatment, the observation group had significantly lower serum VEGFR-2 and PLGF levels than the control group (VEGFR-2: 7053. 2 ± 1836. 1 ng/L vs 8097. 5 ± 2325. 4 ng/L, t = 2. 64, P < 0. 05; PLGF: 468. 4 ±136. 5 pg/ml vs 643. 3 ± 195. 8 pg/ml, t = 2. 48, P < 0. 05) . The observation group showed significant changes in serum AST and ALT levels after treatment (t = 4. 302 and 3. 097, both P < 0. 05) . After treatment, the observation group had significantly lower serum AST and ALT levels than the control group (t = 2. 56 and 2. 39, both P < 0. 05) . Compared with the control group, the observation group had better follow-up results, with a significantly increased disease control rate (27. 3% vs 47. 3%, χ2= 4. 705, P = 0. 030) , and had a significantly higher survival rate at 40 months after treatment (43. 6% vs 69. 1%, χ2= 7. 245, P = 0. 007) . Conclusion Sorafenib is effective in the treatment of PHC patients, as it can significantly reduce the serum levels of VEGFR-2 and PLGF, prolong the survival time of patients, and improve the prognosis of patients.