Last update:

   10-Dec-2008
 

Arch Hellen Med, 25(5), September-October 2008, 634-636

SHORT COMMUNICATION

First-time use of bevacizumab for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in a HIV/HBV coinfected patient.
A case report

I.G. BARABOUTIS,1 G. CHARITSIS,2 V. PAPASTAMOPOULOS,1 L.É. LEKAKIS,1 M.M. VASLAMATZIS,3 A.T. SKOUTELIS1,2
1Infectious Diseases and HIV Division,
25th Department of Internal Medicine,
3Oncology Division, "Evangelismos" General Hospital, Athens, Greece

A case of a HIV-1 infected patient with history of chronic hepatitis B and chronic alcohol use without cirrhosis, who presented with aggressive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with multiple metastasis is presented. Systemic chemotherapy combined with use of bevacizumab (anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody) was without effect and the patient succumbed to his disease within weeks. Relatively recent data indicate that HCC may be extremely aggressive in HIV/HBV or HIV/HCV coinfected patients with younger age at presentation, shorter evolution time, a more advanced stage at presentation with higher rates of extrahepatic-extranodal metastases and, finally, a reduced survival rate as compared with HIV-negative patients. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the English literature of bevacizumab use for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in HIV infected patients.

Key words: Anti-VEGF, Bevacizumab, HIV/HBV coinfection, Metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.


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