Clinical effect of albumin-bound paclitaxel in treatment of advanced primary liver cancer

Objective To investigate the clinical effect and safety of albumin-bound paclitaxel( Nab-P) as the first-line treatment for advanced primary liver cancer. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 23 patients with advanced primary liver cancer who were admitted to the Department of Medical Oncology in Chinese PLA General Hospital from May 2014 to December 2015.According to the treatment regimen,these patients were divided into observation group and control group. The 12 patients in the observation group were treated with Nab-P,among whom 5 were treated with Nab-P combined with tegafur,gimeracil and oteracil,5 were treated with Nab-P combined with capecitabine,and 2 were treated with Nab-P alone; the 11 patients in the control group were treated with gemcitabine combined with oxaliplatin. One cycle of the treatment was 21 days for each treatment regimen; therapeutic effect was evaluated every2 cycles,and adverse events were evaluated every cycle. The chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups,the Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze progression-free survival,and the log-rank test was used to compare survival rates between groups. Results All the patients were eligible for evaluation of clinical outcome and adverse events.In the observation group,2 patients achieved partial remission,7 had a stable disease,and 3 had a progressive disease; in the control group,2 achieved partial remission,5 had a stable disease,and 4 had a progressive disease. There was no significant difference in disease control rate between the two groups( 75% vs 64%,χ2= 0. 350,P > 0. 05). There was also no significant difference in the median progression-free survival between the two groups [5. 1( 2. 7-6. 7) months vs 4. 3( 2. 5-5. 4) months,χ2= 0. 647,P > 0. 05]. As for adverse events,no patient experienced serious adverse events,and there were significant differences in the incidence rates of platelet toxicity and increased aspartate aminotransferase between the two groups( χ2= 5. 490 and 6. 135,P = 0. 036 and 0. 027). Conclusion In the treatment of advanced primary liver cancer,the medication based on Nab-P shows a good clinical effect and tolerable toxic and side effects; however,due to the small sample size in this study,the clinical studies with a large sample size are needed.