ORiginal Article

Background/Aims: We investigated the effects of sorafenib monotherapy on advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) in a clinical setting. Methods: In total, 143 consecutive patients with unresect-able HCC were treated with sorafenib. Among these patients, 30 patients with advanced HCC and PVTT (Vp3 or 4) were treated with sorafenib monotherapy. Results: All patients had a performance status of 1 to 2 (Eastern Cooperative On-cology Group 1/2, 20/10) and Child-Pugh class A or B (A/B, 17/13). Eleven patients had modified Union for International Cancer Control stage IVA tumors, whereas 19 had stage IVB tumors. All patients had PVTT (Vp3, 6; Vp4, 24). Following sorafenib monotherapy, three patients (10.0%) had a partial response with PVTT revascularization, and nine (30.0%) had stable disease, with a disease control rate of 33.3%. Th