Tuesday, 8 July 2025

Pharmacokinetic-Based Prognostic Markers for Advanced Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma Treated with Standardised Extract of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC | Chapter 5 | An Overview of Disease and Health Research Vol. 4

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), a biliary tract cancer, is a major cause of primary liver cancers. It is recognised as a deadly gastrointestinal cancer with a poor disease prognosis due to the lack of effective biomarkers for early diagnosis and effective treatment. Recently, research has indicated that Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC. (AL) may offer greater clinical benefits for patients with advanced-stage ICC when compared with standard supportive care.

 

Aim: This study investigated the relationships between clinical efficacy and pharmacokinetic parameters of serum bioactivity of AL and its active constituent, “atractylodin,” and determined the therapeutic ranges.

 

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted as part of a single-centre, open-label, randomised controlled Phase 2A trial, which took place over four months at Sakhon Nakhon Hospital, Sakhon Nakhon Province, Thailand. Patients with advanced-stage ICC were randomised to three groups. Group 1 received daily doses of 1,000 mg of standardised extract of the capsule formulation of AL (CMC-AL) for 90 days. Group 2 received daily doses of 1,000 mg of CMC-AL for 14 days, followed by 1,500 mg for 14 days and 2,000 mg for 62 days. Group 3 (the control group) received palliative care. The Cox proportional hazard model and the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve were applied to determine the cut-off values of AUC0-inf, Cmax, and Cavg associated with therapeutic outcomes. Number-needed-to-be-treated (NNT) and relative risk (RR) were also applied to determine potential predictors. Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for non-normally distributed data. Paired t-tests and unpaired t-tests were applied to analyse normally distributed quantitative variables, while chi-square analysis was used for qualitative variables. A significance level of α = 0.05 was used.

 

Results: The AUC0-inf of total AL bioactivity of> 96.71 µg*h/ml was identified as a promising predictor of disease prognosis, specifically progression-free survival (PFS) and disease control rate (DCR). Cmax of total AL bioactivity of>21.42 was identified as a predictor of the prognosis of death. The therapeutic range of total AL bioactivity for PFS and DCR is 14.48-65.8 µg/ml, and for overall survival is 10.97-65.8 µg/ml.

 

Conclusions: The predictors of ICC disease prognosis were established based on the pharmacokinetics of total AL bioactivity. The information could be exploited to improve the clinical efficacy of AL in patients with advanced-stage ICC. These predictors will be validated in a phase 2B clinical study. Further study is needed to validate the model externally with a larger sample size to confirm its accuracy and applicability.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Teerachat Sae-heng
Center of Excellence in Pharmacology and Molecular Biology of Malaria and Cholangiocarcinoma, Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Pathumthani, Thailand.

 

Juntra Karbwang
Drug Discovery and Development Center, Office of Advanced Science and Technology, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Thailand.

 

Anurak Cheomung

Graduate Program in Bio-clinical Sciences, Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand.

 

 

Nisit Tongsirid
Sakon Nakorn Hospital, Sakon Nakorn 47000, Thailand.

 

Tullayakorn Plengsuriyakarnc
Graduate Program in Bio-clinical Sciences, Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand.

 

Kesara Na-Bangchanga
Center of Excellence in Pharmacology and Molecular Biology of Malaria and Cholangiocarcinoma, Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Pathumthani, Thailand, Drug Discovery and Development Center, Office of Advanced Science and Technology, Thammasat University (Rangsit Campus), Thailand and Graduate Program in Bio-clinical Sciences, Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/aodhr/v4/5794

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