A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Study of Sorafenib in Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Overall Survival (OS) was defined as the time from date of randomization to death due to any cause. Subjects still alive at the time of analysis were censored at their last date of last contact.

Time to Symptomatic Progression (TTSP) was defined as the time from date of randomization to symptomatic progression. Subjects without symptomatic progression at the time of analysis were censored at their last date of tumor evaluation.

Time to progression (TTP) was defined as the time from date of randomization to radiologically documented disease progression. Subjects without progression at the time of analysis were censored at their last date of tumor evaluation。

Disease Control (DC) was defined as the total number of subjects whose best response was not Progressive Disease (PD: an increase in the sum of tumor lesions sizes) according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) (= total number of Complete Response (CR: disappearance of tumor lesions) + total number of Partial Response (PR: a decrease of at least 30% in the sum of tumor lesion sizes) + total number of Stable Disease (SD: steady state of disease); CR, PR, or SD had to be maintained for at least 28 days from the first demonstration of that rating).

The FHSI-8 questionnaire was completed at baseline and every 3 weeks during treatment and at the end of treatment visit only for subjects who withdrew for reasons other than symptomatic progression. Patient reported outcome was measured using the FHSI-8 score changes from baseline throughout the study period. FHSI-8 assesses hepatobiliary cancer symptoms with total score ranges from 0 to 32 (0 = the best quality of life; 32 = the worst quality of life with severe symptoms)..

The FACT-Hep questionnaire was also completed to assess patient reported outcome. The FACT-Hep assesses hepatobiliary cancer-related quality of life. FACT-Hep total score ranges from 0 to 180 (0=All questions answered "Not at all"; 180=All questions answered "Very much").

Tumor Response (= Best Overall Response) of a subject was defined as the best tumor response (confirmed Complete Response (CR: disappearance of tumor lesions), confirmed* Partial Response (PR: a decrease of at least 30% in the sum of tumor lesion sizes), Stable Disease (SD: steady state of disease), or Progressive Disease (PD: an increase in the sum of tumor lesions sizes)) observed during trial period assessed according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria.

Duration of Response was defined as the time from date of first response (Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR)) to the date when Progressive Disease (PD) is first documented, or to the date of death, whichever occurs first. Subjects still having CR or PR at the time of analysis were censored at their last tumor assessment.

Time to Response (TTR) for subjects who achieved a response (Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR) ) was defined as the time from date of randomization to the earliest date that the response was first documented.

The AUC is a measure of systemic drug exposure, which is obtained by collecting a series of blood samples and measuring the concentrations of drug in each sample. A plot of concentration vs time after dosing is created, and the area under this curve is calculated by standard methods (eg, trapezoidal rule) to provide a measure of how much drug was in the bloodstream following dosing.

The AUC is a measure of systemic drug exposure, which is obtained by collecting a series of blood samples and measuring the concentrations of drug in each sample. A plot of concentration vs time after dosing is created, and the area under this curve is calculated by standard methods (eg, trapezoidal rule) to provide a measure of how much drug was in the bloodstream following dosing.

Cmax refers to the highest plasma concentration of drug reached after dosing. It is obtained by collecting a series of blood samples after dosing, and analyzing them for drug content by a sensitive and specific analytical method. The highest measured concentration is referred to as the Cmax.

Cmaxnorm refers to the maximum plasma concentration of Sorafenib corrected for dose and body weight (Cmaxnorm = Cmax/(mg/kg)).

Tmax refers to the time after dosing when a drug attains its maximum concentration in the blood. It is obtained by collecting a series of blood samples at various times after dosing, and measuring them for drug content. The time corresponding to the highest measurable concentration (Cmax) is referred to as Tmax.