Hand-foot skin reaction (HFSR) is one of the major adverse effects of sorafenib necessitating discontinuation of the drug, however, no standard interventions for HFSR have been established yet. At our hospital, we are using a urea-containing cream prophylactically for HFSR associated with sorafenib. We carried out this study in 74 hepatocellular carcinoma patients receiving treatment with sorafenib at our hospital between June 2009 and January 2011 to assess the benefit of prophylactic use of urea-containing cream against sorafenib-induced HFSR. Patients with a history of previous use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors or insufficient data in respect of the dose of urea-containing cream were excluded. The patients were divided into a high-dose group (38 patients) and a low-dose group (36 patients) according to the median dose (2.9 g per day) of urea-containing cream used within the first 2 weeks after the start of sorafenib treatment. The frequency of grade 2 or 3 HFSR was 42.1% in the high-dose group and 61.1% in the low-dose group(P = 0.105). The relative dose intensity of sorafenib was 71.1% in the high-dose group and 59.6% in the low-dose group (P = 0.043). No significant difference was observed in the response rate or time to progression between the two groups. In conclusion, prophylactic use of a urea-containing cream might enhance the relative dose intensity of sorafenib, but further prospective studies are warranted to elucidate its usefulness.
