Arabinoxylan Rice Bran (MGN-3) Enhances the Effects of Interventional Therapies for the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Three-year Randomized Clinical Trial

Background and Aims: This study examined the efficacy of arabinoxylan rice bran (MGN-3) in conjunction with an interventional therapy (IT) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Patients and Methods: A total of sixty-eight patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (stages I and II) participated in the study. Patients were randomized to receive IT (30 patients, control group) or IT+MGN-3 (38 patients), and randomly divided into two groups using a computer-generated randomization list. Patients and investigators were blinded. IT included transarterial oily chernoembolization (TOCE) or a combination of TOCE and percutaneous ethanol injection treatment (PEIT). Results: Patients in the IT+MGN-3 group showed: (i) lower recurrence ofthe disease, 3l.6% (I2/38), as compared to 46.7% (I4/30) for the control; (ii) higher survival aher the second year, 35%, as compared to 6.7% for the control; (iii) significantly lower alpha-fetoprotein level, a 38% decrease (p=0,()001), as compared to baseline value, while the control showed no signficant change; and (iv) a significant decrease in tumor volume, in contrast to the control, which showed no significant change. When the results were analyzed according to each IT modality, MGN-3+IT sub-groups displayed a greater response to treatment, in every aspect examined, than the IT sub-groups alone, Howeven the patients in the MGN-3+TOCE+PEIT sub-group demonstrated greater reduction in AFP levels and longer survival time than the MGN-3+TOCE; sub-group. Conclusion: MGN-3 in conjunction with IT may be usefull at the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and warrants farther investigation in multiple clinical trials.