Die zeitgemäßen therapeutischen Optionen des hepatozellulären Karzinoms wurden mit dieser Studie beschrieben. Dies erschien sinnvoll, da verschiedene Empfehlungen existieren, die Ärzte bei der Entscheidung zur adäquaten Therapie unterstützen sollen. Das Ziel dieser Studie war es deshalb zu untersuchen, unter welchen Umständen eine Resektion als Erstlinien-Therapie gewählt wurde. Auch sollten signifikante Unterschiede der Charakteristika und Tumoreigenschaften der resezierten gegenüber den nicht-resezierten Patienten herausgearbeitet werden. Im Zuge dessen wurden Daten von 220 Patienten ausgewertet. Der Beobachtungszeitraum erstreckte sich von Januar 2012 bis September 2016. 30% der Patienten wurden reseziert. Die meisten (59%) davon im Stadium BCLC A, aber sogar noch im Stadium B und C. Zeichen der hepatischen Dekompensation waren keine absoluten Kontraindikationen für eine Resektion. Lediglich das Auftreten einer hepatischen Enzephalopathie führte im weiteren Verlauf nie zu einer Resektion in dieser Studie. Transplantationen wurden dagegen in 16 von 17 Fällen im Stadium A vollzogen (ein Patient wurde im Stadium B transplantiert). Transplantationen wurden außerdem ausschließlich bei Patienten mit Fibrose oder Zirrhose durchgeführt. Lokoregionäre Verfahren finden breite Anwendung. In dieser Studie wurde hauptsächlich das Verfahren der TACE beleuchtet. Patienten in den Stadien BCLC A, B und C wurden dieser Therapie zugeführt. Die Distribution der UICC und BCLC Stadien zwischen der Resektions- und TACE-Gruppe unterschied sich nicht (p=0,353). Die TACE, deren kuratives Potential umstritten bleibt, wird nun zumeist als Bridging-Verfahren vor einer Transplantation angewendet und als Sekundärtherapie bei Rezidiven nach einer Resektion. Die Sorafenib-Therapie und ein palliatives Regime sind Patienten in den Stadien BCLC C, respektive BCLC D vorbehalten. Für ein HCC in Zirrhose zeigte die Lebertransplantation in der follow-up Periode die geringste Rezidivrate. Das ist aber nicht in jeder Studie der Fall. Bedenkt man zudem die limitierte Anzahl an verfügbaren Spenderorganen, so ist die Resektion die Therapie der Wahl für die meisten Patienten. Die Resektion scheint der TACE überlegen im Hinblick auf Rezidivfreiheit. Daher kommt der Evaluierung der Resektabilität eine enorme Bedeutung zu. Dies wird umso deutlicher, da nicht jeder potenziell resektable Patient schlussendlich reseziert wird - in dieser Studie in etwa jeder fünfte potenziell resektable Patient. Zudem ergab sich zwischen den Gruppen der resezierten Patienten und den potenziell resektablen, die keiner Operation zugeführt wurden, kein erkennbarer medizinischer Unterschied, der das nicht-operative Vorgehen gerechtfertigt hätte. Allein die Größe des ersten Herdes war bei den resezierten Patienten größer. Das verdeutlicht die Unsicherheit in der Evaluierung der Resektabilität. Der innovative LiMAx-Test scheint mit höherer Sensitivität und Spezifität und unter geringem Einfluss von Störgrößen zur Messung der Leberfunktionskapazität geeignet zu sein, wie in mehreren Studien gezeigt wurde. Es wurde zudem in dieser Arbeit gezeigt, dass es nicht immer möglich ist, an Hand der BCLC-Klassifikation eine stadiengerechte Therapie abzuleiten. Klinische Entscheidungen entsprechen häufig nicht den Empfehlungen. So wurden 40,9% der Resektionen außerhalb des Stadiums BCLC A getätigt. Folglich erscheinen die BCLC Kriterien als zu eingeschränkt und in ihrer jetzigen Form als unzulänglich die Indikation zur Resektion zu stellen. Die Notwendigkeit zur Neugestaltung jener kann daher nachvollzogen werden. / The goal of this study was to assess under which circumstances a resection was performed as a first line therapy. Significant differences in patient and tumor characteristics were to be highlighted as well. Therefore data from 220 patients were analyzed. The screening period ranged from 2012 to September 2016. 30% of patients were resected. Most oft hem (59%) were in BCLC stadium A. But even in BCLC stadium B and even in C resections were performed. Solely a previously documented hepatic encephalopatia never led to a resection. Transplantation was an option in early tumor states for patients with a fibrotic/cirrhotic liver. Regarding interventional therapies, we examined patients treated with a TACE. Patients in BCLA stadium A, B and C received this therapy. There was no significant difference in the distribution of the UICC or BCLC states between the resection and TACE groups (p = 0,53). There is no hard evidence that shows a curative potential for TACE. Therefore it is most commonly used as a bridging therapy or in (neo-)adjuvant settings. According to giudelines a systemic therapy and best supportive care were reserved for patients in later stages. Transplanted patients showed the highest rate of disease free survival during the, even shortest, follow-up period. According to this study and current literature, there is no significant short or mid-term survival benefit of transplantation over resection. If one also considers other factors, i.e the limited amount of donor organs, resection seems to be a legitimate alternative to transplantation, also in cirrhosis. Resection has been shown to be the preferred treatment in early stages with solitary nodules without cirrhosis. This study has also shown that not every patient potentially eligible for resection, has been resected. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between those potentially resectable patients and those patients who were resected. Only the size of the first nodule was different significantly. This proves the uncertainty and difficulties in adequatly assessing resectability and postoperative outcome. Therefore new innovative tests to assess liver function and postoperative functional reserve will be of far more importance in the future, for example the so called LiMAx-test. Consequently, clinical scientific endevaours to optimize those tests should be performed. It has also been shown that clinicians don’t always abide to the BCLC recommendations. Therefore those recoomendations should be adapted.

Die Therapieentscheidung beim HCC richtet sich derzeit nach den BCLC-Kriterien. Die effektivste Therapieoption, eine Resektion, wird allerdings nur in den frühen Stadien empfohlen. Um postoperative Komplikationen zu vermeiden, benötigt es unter anderem eine effiziente präoperative Leberfunktionsevaluation zur Auswahl der Resektionskandidaten. Frühere Studien konnten zeigen, dass der LiMAx-Test hierfür geeignet ist. Da aber Daten zu HCC-Patienten noch fehlen, war das Ziel dieser Studie zu untersuchen, ob der LiMAx-Test die präoperative Evaluation von HCC-Patienten erleichtert und so die postoperative Morbidität und Mortalität insbesondere für Patienten mit Leberzirrhose gesenkt werden kann. Insgesamt erhielten 92 HCC Patienten zur Therapieevaluation eine LiMAx-Messung und wurden in eine Gruppe mit Zirrhose (LZ-Gruppe) und eine ohne (NL-Gruppe) eingeteilt und miteinander verglichen. Jeder Fall wurde in einer Tumorkonferenz besprochen und anhand der erhobenen Leberfunktionsparameter entschieden. 46 Patienten erhielten eine Resektion, 46 wurden abgelehnt, 17 aufgrund zu schlechter LiMAx-Ergebnisse. Die LiMAx-Werte der Resezierten waren mit 388 vs. 322µg/kg/h höher als die der abgelehnten Patienten (p=0,004). Zudem waren sie ein unabhängiger Risikofaktor für eine Leberzirrhose und Prädiktoren für eine unzureichende Leberfunktionsreserve. Ein unterer Grenzwert von 221µg/kg/h wurde ermittelt, bei welchem auch bei Zirrhosepatienten eine Resektion noch sicher durchgeführt werden kann. Generell gab es in der LZ-Gruppe nicht mehr postoperative Komplikationen als in der NL-Gruppe. Eine Vorhersage zur Entwicklung eines postoperativen Leberversagens durch den LiMAx-Test konnte in unserer Studie nicht gezeigt werden. Präoperativ eingesetzt, ermöglicht der LiMAx-Test somit eine effektive und sichere Evaluation von HCC Patienten, die von einer Resektion profitieren, mit niedriger postoperativer Morbiditäts- und Mortalitätsrate, sowohl bei Patienten mit oder ohne Leberzirrhose. / The treatment decision in HCC is currently based on the BCLC criteria. However, the most effective therapeutic option, resection, is recommended only in the early stages. To avoid postoperative complications, it requires, among other things, an efficient preoperative liver function evaluation to select resection candidates. Previous studies have shown that the LiMAx test is suitable for this purpose. However, since data on HCC patients are still lacking, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the LiMAx test can facilitate the preoperative evaluation of HCC patients and thus reduce postoperative morbidity and mortality, especially for patients with liver cirrhosis. A total of 92 HCC patients received LiMAx measurement for treatment evaluation and were divided into a group with cirrhosis (LZ group) and one without (NL group) and afterwards compared. Each case was discussed in a tumor conference and a decision was made based on the liver function parameters obtained. 46 patients received resection, 46 were rejected, and 17 because of too poor LiMAx results. The LiMAx values of the resected patients were higher than those of the rejected patients, 388 vs. 322µg/kg/h (p=0.004). Moreover, they were an independent risk factor for liver cirrhosis and predictors of inadequate liver functional reserve. A lower limit of 221µg/kg/h was identified at which resection can still be safely performed even in cirrhotic patients. In general, there were no more postoperative complications in the LZ group than in the NL group. A prediction of the development of postoperative liver failure by the LiMAx test could not be shown in our study. Thus, used preoperatively, the LiMAx test allows an effective and safe evaluation of HCC patients who benefit from resection, with low postoperative morbidity and mortality rates, both in patients with or without liver cirrhosis.

No description available.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a key regulator of several metabolic and signaling pathways that are relevant in cancer cell survival. Cancer cells have an increased energy demand associated with an increased NAD turnover. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), a key enzyme of the NAD salvage pathway, plays a crucial role in maintaining the intracellular NAD levels and in regulating the activity of NAD-dependent enzymes, such as sirtuins (SIRTs). The inhibition of NAMPT activity and the use of phytochemicals, such as resveratrol, represent novel therapeutic approaches in cancer therapy. Based on these facts, this thesis aimed to investigate (1) the chemotherapeutic potential and molecular mechanisms of FK866, a specific NAMPT inhibitor, and resveratrol on hepatocarcinoma cells and to find out whether there are differences compared to primary human hepatocytes; (2) to address the impact of NAMPT inhibition on the energy metabolism in cancer cells; and (3) to investigate the roles of NAMPT and SIRT1 in resveratrol´s mode of action and chemotherapeutic effects. This work demonstrates that FK866 and resveratrol possess potent chemotherapeutic effects in hepatocarcinoma cells which were absent in human hepatocytes. Hepatocarcinoma cells display a dysregulation in the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling as well as in the NAMPT-mediated NAD salvage pathway compared to human hepatocytes. FK866-induced NAMPT inhibition induces ATP depletion associated with AMPK activation and mTOR inhibition whereas resveratrol induces caspase3-mediated apoptosis that is not dependent on NAMPT and SIRT1 function. NAMPT and SIRT1 are differentially regulated by resveratrol in hepatocarcinoma cells and human hepatocytes. This work also reveals that resveratrol activates p53-induced cell cycle arrest in hepatocarcinoma cells which is partly mediated by SIRT1 inhibition. In summary, this thesis provides new insight into the role of the NAMPT-mediated NAD salvage pathway in energy metabolism and characterized FK866 and resveratrol as promising potential chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) is a malignant liver tumor which is thought to be a variant of conventional hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It accounts for a small proportion of HCC cases and occurs in a distinctly different group of patients which are young and usually not in the setting of chronic liver disease. The diagnosis of FL-HCC requires the integration of clinical information, imaging studies, and histology. In terms of the treatment options, the only potentially curative treatment option for patients who have resectable disease is surgery either liver resection (LR) or liver transplantation (LT). When performed in a context of aggressive therapy, long-term outcomes after surgery, particularly liver resection for FL-HCC, were favorable. The clinical outcome of patients with unresectable disease is suboptimal with median survival of less than 12 months. The aim of this review is to update the available evidence on diagnosis, treatment options, outcome predictors, and recent developments of patients with this rare disease and to provide a summarized overview of the available literature.

Abstrakt Bei Frauen wurde der Zusammenhang zwischen berufsbedingten Expositionen und dem primären Leberzellkarzinom (HCC) bisher nur sehr eingeschränkt diskutiert, das heißt, es gibt bisher kaum Forschungsergebnisse. Diese Arbeit zeigt die Ergebnisse einer internationalen Fall-Kontroll-Studie bei Frauen. Es wurden 317 HCC-Fälle und 1789 Kontrollen ohne diese Erkrankung untersucht. Grenzwertig signifikant erhöhte, adjustierte Risikoschätzer (Odds Ratio=OR)konnten für Beschäftigte in der Landwirtschaft (OR=2.50, 95% Konfidenzintervall: 1.28-4.88) und der chemischen Industrie (2.37 (1.04-5.41)) gefunden werden. Andere, nicht-signifikant erhöhte Werte fanden sich bei Frauen, die in der pharmazeutischen Industrie, in der Plastik- und PVC-Produktion, in der Schlachterei und in der Textilindustrie beschäftigt waren. Allerdings zeigten die jeweiligen Risikoschätzer nur eine geringe Konsistenz zwischen drei verschiedenen Analyseverfahren. Desweiteren zeigte keine der Analysen einen linearen Trend mit zunehmender Zeitdauer der Exposition. Die Anzahl der exponierten Fälle und Kontrollen waren aber in vielen der Berufsgruppen sehr klein, und damit auch die Studien-Power und die Präzision. Wir konnten keinen ernstzunehmenden und konsistenten Beleg für eine Beziehung zwischen HCC bei Frauen und berufsbedingten Expositionen aufzeigen. Nichtsdestotrotz, auch schwache Hinweise auf berufsbedingte Risiken rechtfertigen weitere sorgfältige Betrachtungen in zukünftigen Studien. / Abstract The association of occupational variables and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is discussed with particular reference to women, as little research has been undertaken on their behalf. This paper reports the results of an international case-control study concerning women and involves 317 cases of HCC and 1789 controls without HCC. Working in the chemical industry and in farming was shown to have only a marginally significant risk associated with HCC: adjusted occupational risk (OR) and 95% confidence interval 2.37 (1.04-5.41) for the chemical industry and 2.50 (1.28-4.88) for farming. Other non-significantly elevated ORs were observed in the pharmaceutical, plastics, PVC-producing, textile-producing and butchery industries. Little consistency was found among the risk estimates for HCC, based on three different analytical approaches. None of the analyses showed a linear trend of risk with increasing duration of exposure. However, the numbers of exposed cases and controls were small for many of the occupations and therefore the study power and precision were low. We failed to find important and consistent evidence for a relationship between HCC in women and occupational variables. However, even weak evidence of occupational risk warrants careful consideration in future studies.

Objectives: To compare 64-slice contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) with 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using Gd-EOB-DTPA for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and evaluate the utility of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in this setting. Methods: 3-phase-liver-CT was performed in fifty patients (42 male, 8 female) with suspected or proven HCC. The patients were subjected to a 3-Tesla-MRI-examination with Gd-EOB-DTPA and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) at b-values of 0, 50 and 400 s/mm2. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)-value was determined for each lesion detected in DWI. The histopathological report after resection or biopsy of a lesion served as the gold standard, and a surrogate of follow-up or complementary imaging techniques in combination with clinical and paraclinical parameters was used in unresected lesions. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were evaluated for each technique. Results: MRI detected slightly more lesions that were considered suspicious for HCC per patient compared to CT (2.7 versus 2.3, respectively). ADC-measurements in HCC showed notably heterogeneous values with a median of 1.2±0.5×10−3 mm2/s (range from 0.07±0.1 to 3.0±0.1×10−3 mm2/s). MRI showed similar diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and positive and negative predictive values compared to CT (AUC 0.837, sensitivity 92%, PPV 80% and NPV 90% for MRI vs. AUC 0.798, sensitivity 85%, PPV 79% and NPV 82% for CT; not significant). Specificity was 75% for both techniques. Conclusions: Our study did not show a statistically significant difference in detection in detection of HCC between MRI and CT. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI tended to detect more lesions per patient compared to contrast-enhanced CT; therefore, we would recommend this modality as the first-choice imaging method for the detection of HCC and therapeutic decisions. However, contrast-enhanced CT was not inferior in our study, so that it can be a useful image modality for follow-up examinations.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a key regulator of several metabolic and signaling pathways that are relevant in cancer cell survival. Cancer cells have an increased energy demand associated with an increased NAD turnover. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT), a key enzyme of the NAD salvage pathway, plays a crucial role in maintaining the intracellular NAD levels and in regulating the activity of NAD-dependent enzymes, such as sirtuins (SIRTs). The inhibition of NAMPT activity and the use of phytochemicals, such as resveratrol, represent novel therapeutic approaches in cancer therapy. Based on these facts, this thesis aimed to investigate (1) the chemotherapeutic potential and molecular mechanisms of FK866, a specific NAMPT inhibitor, and resveratrol on hepatocarcinoma cells and to find out whether there are differences compared to primary human hepatocytes; (2) to address the impact of NAMPT inhibition on the energy metabolism in cancer cells; and (3) to investigate the roles of NAMPT and SIRT1 in resveratrol´s mode of action and chemotherapeutic effects. This work demonstrates that FK866 and resveratrol possess potent chemotherapeutic effects in hepatocarcinoma cells which were absent in human hepatocytes. Hepatocarcinoma cells display a dysregulation in the AMP-activated kinase (AMPK)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling as well as in the NAMPT-mediated NAD salvage pathway compared to human hepatocytes. FK866-induced NAMPT inhibition induces ATP depletion associated with AMPK activation and mTOR inhibition whereas resveratrol induces caspase3-mediated apoptosis that is not dependent on NAMPT and SIRT1 function. NAMPT and SIRT1 are differentially regulated by resveratrol in hepatocarcinoma cells and human hepatocytes. This work also reveals that resveratrol activates p53-induced cell cycle arrest in hepatocarcinoma cells which is partly mediated by SIRT1 inhibition. In summary, this thesis provides new insight into the role of the NAMPT-mediated NAD salvage pathway in energy metabolism and characterized FK866 and resveratrol as promising potential chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) is a malignant liver tumor which is thought to be a variant of conventional hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It accounts for a small proportion of HCC cases and occurs in a distinctly different group of patients which are young and usually not in the setting of chronic liver disease. The diagnosis of FL-HCC requires the integration of clinical information, imaging studies, and histology. In terms of the treatment options, the only potentially curative treatment option for patients who have resectable disease is surgery either liver resection (LR) or liver transplantation (LT). When performed in a context of aggressive therapy, long-term outcomes after surgery, particularly liver resection for FL-HCC, were favorable. The clinical outcome of patients with unresectable disease is suboptimal with median survival of less than 12 months. The aim of this review is to update the available evidence on diagnosis, treatment options, outcome predictors, and recent developments of patients with this rare disease and to provide a summarized overview of the available literature.

Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) often develops in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis at an annual risk of up to 2.5%. Some host genetic risk factors have been identified but do not account for the majority of the variance in occurrence. This study aimed to identify novel susceptibility loci for the development of HCC in people with alcohol related cirrhosis. - Design: Patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis and HCC (cases: n=1214) and controls without HCC (n=1866), recruited from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and the UK, were included in a two-stage genome-wide association study using a case–control design. A validation cohort of 1520 people misusing alcohol but with no evidence of liver disease was included to control for possible association effects with alcohol misuse. Genotyping was performed using the InfiniumGlobal Screening Array (V.24v2, Illumina) and the OmniExpress Array (V.24v1-0a, Illumina). - Results: Associations with variants rs738409 in PNPLA3 and rs58542926 in TM6SF2 previously associated with an increased risk of HCC in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis were confirmed at genome-wide significance. A novel locus rs2242652(A) in TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase) was also associated with a decreased risk of HCC, in the combined meta-analysis, at genome-wide significance (p=6.41×10⁻⁹, OR=0.61 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.70). This protective association remained significant after correction for sex, age, body mass index and type 2 diabetes (p=7.94×10⁻⁵, OR=0.63 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.79). Carriage of rs2242652(A) in TERT was associated with an increased leucocyte telomere length (p=2.12×10⁻⁴⁴). - Conclusion: This study identifies rs2242652 in TERT as a novel protective factor for HCC in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis.