Transarterial Chemoembolization in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Clinical Efficacy Study of Ganoderma Lucidum Extract Polysaccharide Peptide β-Glucan

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver malignancy with high prevalence rate, associated primarily with the Hepatitis B Virus. HCC is the third leading cause of death worldwide. The prevalence in Indonesia is estimated at 100 per100,000 inhabitants. Treatment is generally ineffective as patients are already at advanced stages when diagnosed. Trans-arterial Chemoembolization (TACE) is a promising treatment, and β-Glucan combined therapy is expected to treat HCC more efficiently. This study evaluated the treatment response of TACE in HCC combined with β-Glucan orally. Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 63 patients with HCC. The subjects of the study were randomly assigned into two groups: 32 administered TACE plus β-Glucan, and 31 with TACE plus placebo. Results: In the β-Glucan group, there were four patients (12.50%) with complete response, 16 (50%) partial response, 3 (9.38%) no response, and 9 (28.12%) in deteriorated response. In the placebo group, there were 0 complete response, 11(35.48%) partial, 2(6.45%) no response, and 18 (58.07%) deteriorated response. The survival rate of the β-Glucan group was longer (median 39 weeks) than the placebo group (median 26 weeks). CD4, CD8 and IL-2 post-TACE increased significantly (p<0.05). The placebo group had 4.143 times, significantly higher hazard risk (p<0.05).
Conclusion: HCC therapy with a combination of TACE and β-Glucan is beneficial to increase the therapeutic response, immunity and survival rate.