Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42139645›Full record

SynthesisJournal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology2026

Overall Survival Among Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated With External Beam Radiation Therapy: Individual Patient Data Outcomes From a Multinational Cohort.

Andrew M Moon, Ted K Yanagihara, Laura A Dawson, Jeong Il Yu, Theodore S Lawrence, Tae Hyun Kim, Michael Yan, Hiromitsu Iwata, Nima Nabavizadeh, Smith Apisarnthanarax and 28 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

38 authors.

Andrew M MoonDivision of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.ORCID 0000-0001-7163-2062
Ted K YanagiharaLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.ORCID 0000-0001-7123-0637
Laura A DawsonRadiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Jeong Il YuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Theodore S LawrenceDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.ORCID 0000-0002-4186-8821
Tae Hyun KimCenter for Proton Therapy, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Republic of Korea.ORCID 0000-0001-8413-3385
Michael YanRadiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Hiromitsu IwataDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Nagoya Proton Therapy Center, Nagoya City University West Medical Center, Nagoya, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-9809-9800
Nima NabavizadehDepartment of Radiation Medicine, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR.ORCID 0000-0001-9152-8262
Smith ApisarnthanaraxDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.ORCID 0000-0003-4522-8300
Emma M DunneDepartment of Radiation Oncology, British Columbia Cancer-Vancouver, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Michael I LockDepartment of Radiation Oncology, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-3782-4463
Michael D ChuongDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, Miami, FL.ORCID 0000-0001-8328-7518
Chi Leung ChiangDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Centre of Cancer Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongChina.ORCID 0000-0002-9836-6478
Marta ScorsettiDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-0320-559X
Norio KatohDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Hokkaido University Faculty of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.ORCID 0000-0003-3959-2114
Shirin SioshansiDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Brown University Health Cancer Institute, Providence, RI.
Kazushi NumataDepartment of Gastroenterology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.
Howard Yu-Hao LiuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-9902-9529
Hideki IwamotoDivision of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-5688-1335
Masaru WakatsukiQST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), Chiba, Japan.
Yixing ChenDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Erqi L PollomDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.ORCID 0000-0003-2908-6293
Eleni GkikaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.ORCID 0009-0003-7538-9057
Salma K JabbourDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.ORCID 0000-0001-8200-5371
Pablo Munoz-SchuffeneggerRadiation Oncology Unit, Department of Hematology-Oncology, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.ORCID 0000-0002-9687-5404
Debnarayan DuttaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, India.ORCID 0000-0002-1513-391X
Carla HajjRadiation Oncology Department, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.ORCID 0000-0001-8774-1845
Masayuki UenoDepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kurashiki Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan.ORCID 0000-0002-2497-9327
Christopher L HallemeierDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.ORCID 0000-0002-3598-6709
Aharon M FeldmanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Henry Ford Health, Detroit, MI.ORCID 0000-0002-3285-4604
Alejandra Méndèz RomeroDepartment of Radiotherapy, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8332-1680
Xianming TanLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.ORCID 0000-0002-5478-2269
Meritxell MollaRadiation Oncology Department, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Joel E TepperDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.ORCID 0000-0002-8591-4228
Ferran TorresBiostatistics Unit, Medical School, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-7355-7913
Maria ReigLiver Cancer Unit, Liver Unit, Hospital Clínic, BCLC Group-IDIBAPS, CIBEREHD, Barcelona University, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-5711-9534
EBRT Collaboration Group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeExternal beam radiation therapy (EBRT) has gained delayed acceptance as a recommended first-line treatment modality for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), given limited evidence that it improves overall survival (OS). We analyzed individual patient data (IPD) from an international cohort to assess OS among patients with HCC treated with EBRT.

methodsWe performed a systematic review of publications that assessed EBRT, met prespecified technical standards for HCC, and reported OS (search date December 15, 2022). Corresponding authors were invited to submit IPD for the study. We performed Kaplan-Meier survival analyses to determine OS and restricted mean survival time (RMST) stratified by Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage and treatment status (ie, treatment-naïve and experienced). We performed random effects Cox proportional hazards modeling to assess clinical characteristics associated with OS.

resultsData were provided on 4,913 patients treated with EBRT with a median follow-up time of 5.0 years. The median OS was 6.8 years (95% CI, 5.7 to 8.7) for BCLC-0 and 4.6 years (95% CI, 4.1 to 5.1) for BCLC-A. Among treatment-naïve patients, the median OS was not reached (95% CI, 8.6 to not reached) for BCLC-0 and was 5.4 years (95% CI, 4.5 to 6.7) for BCLC-A. In multivariable models, more advanced BCLC stage, higher tumor burden, worse performance status, and Child-Pugh class B or C were associated with a higher risk of mortality. Ablative radiation dose and more recent year of treatment were associated with a reduced risk of death.

conclusionTo our knowledge, this study represents the largest multinational cohort of patients with HCC treated with EBRT. OS outcomes with EBRT for very early- and early-stage HCC appear to be comparable with resection, thermal ablation, and other ablative locoregional therapies. These data support the inclusion of EBRT in the BCLC HCC clinical decision-making process.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, HepatocellularLiver NeoplasmsAgedCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID42139645
PMCPMC13313461

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.