First-line avelumab + axitinib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Results from a phase 1b trial (VEGF Liver 100).

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4072-4072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatoshi Kudo ◽  
Kenta Motomura ◽  
Yoshiyuki Wada ◽  
Yoshitaka Inaba ◽  
Yasunari Sakamoto ◽  
...  

4072 Background: Combining an immune checkpoint inhibitor with a targeted antiangiogenic agent may leverage complementary mechanisms of action for treatment of advanced/metastatic (a/m) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Avelumab is a human anti–PD-L1 IgG1 antibody with clinical activity in various tumor types; axitinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor selective for VEGF receptors 1/2/3. VEGF Liver 100 (NCT03289533) is a phase 1b study evaluating safety and efficacy of avelumab + axitinib in treatment-naive patients (pts) with HCC; interim results are reported here. Methods: Eligible pts had confirmed a/m HCC, ≥1 measurable lesion, a fresh or archival tumor specimen, ECOG PS ≤1, and Child-Pugh class A. Pts received avelumab 10 mg/kg IV Q2W + axitinib 5 mg orally BID until progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal. Endpoints included safety and objective response (RECIST v1.1; modified [m] RECIST for HCC). Results: Interim assessment was performed after a minimum follow up of 6 months based on the released study data set (clinical cut-off date: Aug 1, 2018). As of the cut-off date, 22 pts (median age: 68.5 y) were treated with avelumab (median: 20.0 wk) and axitinib (median: 19.9 wk). The most common grade 3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) (≥10% of patients) were hypertension (50.0%) and hand-foot syndrome (22.7%); no grade 4/5 TRAEs were reported. Immune-related AEs (irAEs) (≥10% of pts) were hypothyroidism (31.8%) and hyperthyroidism (13.6%). No grade ≥3 irAEs were reported; no pts discontinued treatment due to TRAEs or irAEs. Based on Waterfall plot calculations, tumor shrinkage was observed in 15 (68.2%) and 16 (72.7%) pts by RECIST and mRECIST, respectively. ORR was 13.6% (95% CI, 2.9%-34.9%) and 31.8% (95% CI, 13.9%-54.9%) by RECIST and mRECIST, respectively. OS data were immature at data cutoff. Conclusions: The preliminary safety of avelumab + axitinib in HCC is manageable and consistent with the known safety profiles of avelumab and axitinib when administered as monotherapies. This study demonstrates antitumor activity of the combination in HCC. Follow-up is ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT03289533. [Table: see text]

Liver Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Masatoshi Kudo ◽  
Kenta Motomura ◽  
Yoshiyuki Wada ◽  
Yoshitaka Inaba ◽  
Yasunari Sakamoto ◽  
...  

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Combining an immune checkpoint inhibitor with a targeted antiangiogenic agent may leverage complementary mechanisms of action for the treatment of advanced/metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC). Avelumab is a human anti-PD-L1 IgG1 antibody with clinical activity in various tumor types; axitinib is a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1, 2, and 3. We report the final analysis from VEGF Liver 100 (NCT03289533), a phase 1b study evaluating safety and efficacy of avelumab plus axitinib in treatment-naive patients with aHCC. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Eligible patients had confirmed aHCC, no prior systemic therapy, ≥1 measurable lesion, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤1, and Child-Pugh class A disease. Patients received avelumab 10 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks plus axitinib 5 mg orally twice daily until progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal. Endpoints included safety and investigator-assessed objective response per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1 and modified RECIST (mRECIST) for HCC. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Twenty-two Japanese patients were enrolled and treated with avelumab plus axitinib. The minimum follow-up was 18 months as of October 25, 2019 (data cutoff). Grade 3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) occurred in 16 patients (72.7%); the most common (≥3 patients) were hypertension (<i>n</i> = 11 [50.0%]), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (<i>n</i> = 5 [22.7%]), and decreased appetite (<i>n</i> = 3 [13.6%]). No grade 4 TRAEs or treatment-related deaths occurred. Ten patients (45.5%) had an immune-related AE (irAE) of any grade; 3 patients (13.6%) had an infusion-related reaction (IRR) of any grade, and no grade ≥3 irAE and IRR were observed. The objective response rate was 13.6% (95% CI: 2.9–34.9%) per RECIST 1.1 and 31.8% (95% CI: 13.9–54.9%) per mRECIST for HCC. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Treatment with avelumab plus axitinib was associated with a manageable toxicity profile and showed antitumor activity in patients with aHCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liting Zhong ◽  
Dehua Wu ◽  
Weiwei Peng ◽  
Hailong Sheng ◽  
Yazhi Xiao ◽  
...  

BackgroundPrevious studies have explored cancer immunotherapy with radiotherapy or anti-angiogenic therapy, but no trials have reported a triple therapy approach. This study aimed to investigate safety and clinical outcome of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with palliative radiotherapy and targeted angiogenesis therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage C.MethodsConsecutive patients (n=16) treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with radiotherapy and anti-angiogenic therapy in a bi-institutional cohort between July 2017 and December 2020 were retrospectively included. Radiotherapy was conducted within 14 days of the first administration of immunotherapy. The primary endpoint was treatment-related adverse event (TRAE).ResultsThe median follow-up was 383 days. Fifteen patients (93.8%) experienced at least 1 TRAE. The most common TRAEs of any grade were rash (25%), diarrhea (25%), aspartate aminotransferase increase (18.8%), alanine transaminase increase (18.8%), decreased appetite (18.8%), and fatigue (18.8%). Grade 3/4 TRAEs occurred in 4 patients (25%) and finally led to treatment interruption. No patient death was attributed to treatment. No specific events were responsible for the addition of radiotherapy. Six patients showed partial response, 7 showed stable disease, and 2 showed progressive disease. The objective response rate and disease control rate were 40.0% (95% CI 16.3%–67.7%) and 86.7% (95% CI 59.5%–98.3%), respectively. Moreover, the median progression-free survival was 140 days. Patients had a median overall survival of 637 days, and the estimated rates of survival at 6 and 12 months were 92.3% and 75.5%, respectively.ConclusionPD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with palliative radiotherapy and anti-angiogenic therapy appear to be safe, with no unexpected adverse events. Additional studies exploring the clinical benefit are warranted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 330-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish R. Patel ◽  
John Allan Ellerton ◽  
Jeffrey R. Infante ◽  
Manish Agrawal ◽  
Michael S. Gordon ◽  
...  

330 Background: Avelumab is a fully human anti‒PD-L1 IgG1 antibody with promising efficacy and safety in patients (pts) with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC). To further characterize the clinical activity of avelumab in mUC, we report a planned interim pooled analysis of 2 cohorts from a large phase 1b trial (NCT01772004). Methods: Pts with mUC progressed after platinum-based therapy or cisplatin-ineligible, and unselected for tumor PD-L1 expression, received avelumab 10 mg/kg (1 h IV) Q2W. Response was assessed every 6 wks by independent review per RECIST v1.1. Endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), safety (NCI CTCAE v4.0), and tumor PD-L1 expression (clone 73-10). Results: As of Mar 19, 2016, 241 pts received avelumab for a median of 8 wks (range 2-80); median follow-up was 7.3 mos (range 0-18.2). Primary tumor sites were upper tract (renal pelvis/ureter [23.7%]) and lower tract (bladder/urethra [76.3%]). 95.4% of pts had progressed on prior platinum therapy, and 63.4% had received ≥ 2 prior lines for advanced disease (range 0-6). In 153 pts with ≥ 6 mos follow-up, confirmed ORR was 17.6% (95% CI 12.0-24.6) with 9 complete responses and 18 partial responses; 24/27 (88.9%) were ongoing. Median DOR was not reached, and the 24-wk DOR rate was 92.0% (95% CI 71.6, 97.9). 36 pts had stable disease as best response (disease control rate 41.2%). Median PFS was 6.4 wks (95% CI 6.1-11.4), and median OS was 7.0 mos (95% CI 5.6-11.1). Based on a ≥ 5% PD-L1 staining cutoff in evaluable pts with PD-L1+ (n = 56) and PD-L1– (n = 75) tumors, ORR was 25.0% (95% CI 14.4-38.4) vs 14.7% (95% CI 7.6-24.7; p = 0.178). Treatment-related adverse events (TRAE) of any grade occurring in ≥ 10% of pts were infusion-related reaction (22.8%) and fatigue (12.0%). 7.5% had a grade ≥ 3 TRAE; fatigue (1.2%)/asthenia (0.8%) occurred in > 1 pt. 28 pts (11.6%) had an immune-related TRAE (grade ≥ 3 in 2.5%). There was 1 treatment-related death (pneumonitis). Conclusions: Avelumab is well tolerated and shows promising clinical activity, including durable responses, in pts with mUC, regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression status. Follow-up is ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT01772004.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2002
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Sum Lung Wong ◽  
Yawen Dong ◽  
Vikki Tang ◽  
Thomas Leung ◽  
Cynthia S. Y. Yeung ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Cabozantinib is approved in sorafenib-exposed advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC). We evaluated the real-life pattern of use, efficacy, and tolerability of cabozantinib in aHCC. (2) Methods: This territory-wide study included consecutive aHCC patients who received cabozantinib between February 2018 and September 2020 in Hong Kong. The objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), and adverse events (AE) were assessed. (3) Results: Overall, 42 patients were included. Approximately 83.3% had Child-Pugh A cirrhosis. About 64.3% received cabozantinib as a single agent, and the remaining 35.7% received cabozantinib as an add-on to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). For single-agent patients, the median follow-up was 6.7 months. The ORR was 3.7%, DCR was 44.4%, and the median OS was 8.28 months. About 74.1% of patients experienced any AEs with 7.4% having grade ≥3 AEs. Among patients who received prior ICIs (n = 16), the ORR was 6.3%, and the median OS was 8.28 months. An exploratory analysis of patients who received cabozantinib as an add-on to ICIs showed an ORR of 6.7% and a median OS of 15.1 months, with 73.3% having any AE and 13.3% having grade ≥3 AEs. (4) Conclusion: Cabozantinib had good anti-tumor activity, survival benefits, and acceptable tolerability in real-life aHCC patients.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 611-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuomi Ueshima ◽  
Naoshi Nishida ◽  
Masatoshi Kudo

Objectives: Previously, no therapeutic agent has been known to improve the overall survival compared with placebo in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), who have progressed after sorafenib. In this patient population, regorafenib was first demonstrated to confer a survival benefit in the RESORCE trial, and subsequently it was approved as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced HCC. An open-label expanded access program (EAP) of regorafenib was implemented for compassionate use. We investigated the efficacy and safety of regorafenib based on our experience of the RESORCE trial and the EAP. Methods: Data from 5 patients from the RESORCE trial and 6 from the EAP were analyzed retrospectively. All patients had tolerated prior sorafenib and were progressing during sorafenib treatment. Results: The median progression-free survival was 9.2 months (95% CI 2.3-16.1). One patient achieved a partial response and 7 achieved stable disease. The objective response rate was 9.1%, and the disease control rate was 72.7%. No treatment-associated mortalities were observed. Grade 3 hypophosphatemia was observed in 2 patients, grade 2 anorexia was observed in 5 patients, and grade 3 neutropenia was observed in 2 patients. Grade 2 and grade 3 thrombocytopenia were observed in 2 and 3 patients, respectively. All treatment-related adverse events were improved by reduction or interruption of regorafenib. Five patients showed decreased serum albumin levels. Conclusion: Sorafenib and regorafenib sequential therapy presents a safe and effective treatment option for patients with advanced HCC.


Author(s):  
Osman Öcal ◽  
Kerstin Schütte ◽  
Juozas Kupčinskas ◽  
Egidijus Morkunas ◽  
Gabija Jurkeviciute ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose To explore the potential correlation between baseline interleukin (IL) values and overall survival or objective response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving sorafenib. Methods A subset of patients with HCC undergoing sorafenib monotherapy within a prospective multicenter phase II trial (SORAMIC, sorafenib treatment alone vs. combined with Y90 radioembolization) underwent baseline IL-6 and IL-8 assessment before treatment initiation. In this exploratory post hoc analysis, the best cut-off points for baseline IL-6 and IL-8 values predicting overall survival (OS) were evaluated, as well as correlation with the objective response. Results Forty-seven patients (43 male) with a median OS of 13.8 months were analyzed. Cut-off values of 8.58 and 57.9 pg/mL most effectively predicted overall survival for IL-6 and IL-8, respectively. Patients with high IL-6 (HR, 4.1 [1.9–8.9], p < 0.001) and IL-8 (HR, 2.4 [1.2–4.7], p = 0.009) had significantly shorter overall survival than patients with low IL values. Multivariate analysis confirmed IL-6 (HR, 2.99 [1.22–7.3], p = 0.017) and IL-8 (HR, 2.19 [1.02–4.7], p = 0.044) as independent predictors of OS. Baseline IL-6 and IL-8 with respective cut-off values predicted objective response rates according to mRECIST in a subset of 42 patients with follow-up imaging available (IL-6, 46.6% vs. 19.2%, p = 0.007; IL-8, 50.0% vs. 17.4%, p = 0.011). Conclusion IL-6 and IL-8 baseline values predicted outcomes of sorafenib-treated patients in this well-characterized prospective cohort of the SORAMIC trial. We suggest that the respective cut-off values might serve for validation in larger cohorts, potentially offering guidance for improved patient selection.


2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 339-339
Author(s):  
S. Lee ◽  
S. Yoon ◽  
S. Shin ◽  
H. Choi

339 Background: Prior to the sorafenib era, most of the advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients had to rely only on conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy. But the introduction of sorafenib in 2008 had given HCC patients additional option for their treatment. However, given that sorafenib has been a nonreimbursable drug under the Korea public health system, most of treatment strategy has largely been determined by patients' affordability of the drug rather than by difference in efficacy and toxicity of the two treatments. Therefore, we compared the efficacy and toxicity of the two treatments by observing HCC patients. Methods: From January 2002 to December 2009, 173 patients with unresectable HCC had been retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 44 (25.4%) had been treated with sorafenib and the remaining had received cytotoxic chemotherapy. We evaluated objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity profiles. Results: The median OS of sorafenib group was 23.0 weeks (95% CI, 8.1-37.9) vs. 43.6 weeks (95% CI, 34.0-37.9) for cytotoxic chemotherapy group. The median PFS for sorafenib group was 11.1 weeks (95% CI, 6.5-15.8) versus 12.4 weeks (95% CI, 8.1-16.7) for cytotoxic chemotherapy group. However, the difference in both findings had not been statistically significant (p=0.105 and p=0.496, respectively). ORR and DCR for sorafenib group were 2.3% and 52.3% versus 6.2% and 43.4% for cytotoxic chemotherapy group, respectively. Patients treated with chemotherapy had shown higher frequencies of grade 3 or 4 neutropenia, 19.7%, (vs. 0% for sorafenib). However, the group with sorafenib had reported a higher rate of all grade dermatologic toxicities such as hand-foot skin reaction, rash and pruritus. Conclusions: Our analysis indicates that efficacy of conventional chemotherapy is not inferior to that of sorafenib. Further research including novel target agent and cytotoxic chemotherapy is needed to improve clinical outcomes for advanced HCC. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. TPS504-TPS504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew X. Zhu ◽  
Jennifer J. Knox ◽  
Masatoshi Kudo ◽  
Stephen L. Chan ◽  
Richard S. Finn ◽  
...  

TPS504 Background: The tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib is the standard of care for first-line hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). For patients with HCC after disease progression on sorafenib or for those with intolerance to sorafenib, no approved therapies are available. Because HCC is often driven by inflammation and is also associated with a suppressed immunoenvironment, there is a strong rationale to evaluate immunotherapy in patients with this type of cancer. The single-arm, multisite, phase 2 KEYNOTE-224 study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02702414) was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab in patients with previously treated advanced HCC. Methods: Approximately 100 patients will be enrolled. Inclusion criteria include age ≥18 years, histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of HCC Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage C disease or BCLC stage B disease not amenable to or refractory to locoregional therapy, and disease not amenable to a curative treatment approach (eg, transplantation, surgery, or ablation). Patients must also have measurable disease based on RECIST v1.1 as confirmed by central imaging vendor review, documented objective radiographic progression after stopping treatment with sorafenib or intolerance to sorafenib, Child-Pugh liver score A, ECOG performance status 0-1, and predicted life expectancy > 3 months. Patients will be allocated to receive pembrolizumab 200 mg IV every 3 weeks for up to 35 cycles (~2 years) or until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, patient withdrawal of consent, or investigator decision. Response will be assessed every 9 weeks per RECIST v1.1 by central imaging vendor review. Adverse events (AEs) will be assessed throughout treatment and for 30 days thereafter (90 days for serious AEs) and graded per NCI CTCAE v4.0. The primary end point is objective response rate per RECIST v1.1 by central imaging vendor review. Secondary end points are overall survival; safety and tolerability; and duration of response, disease control rate, time to progression, and progression-free survival per RECIST v1.1 by central imaging vendor review. Enrollment in KEYNOTE-224 is ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT02702414.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Delos Santos ◽  
S. Udayakumar ◽  
A. Nguyen ◽  
Y.J. Ko ◽  
S. Berry ◽  
...  

Background In patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) following sorafenib failure, it is unclear which treatment is most efficacious, as treatments in the second-line setting have not been directly compared and no standard therapy exists. This systematic review and network meta-analysis (nma) aimed to compare the clinical benefits and toxicities of these treatments. Methods A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (rcts) was conducted to identify phase iii rcts in advanced hcc following sorafenib failure. Baseline characteristics and outcomes of placebo were examined for het­erogeneity. Primary outcomes of interest were extracted for results, including overall survival (os), progression-free survival (pfs), objective response rate (orr), grade 3/4 toxicities, and subgroups. An nma was conducted to compare both drugs through the intermediate placebo. Comparisons were expressed as hazard ratios (hrs) for os and pfs, and as risk difference (rd) for orr and toxicities. Subgroup analyses for os and pfs were also performed. Results Two rcts were identified (1280 patients) and compared through an indirect network; celestial (cabozantinib vs. placebo) and resorce (regorafenib vs. placebo). Baseline characteristics of patients in both trials were similar. Both trials also had similar placebo outcomes. Cabozantinib, compared with regorafenib, showed similar os [hazard ratio (hr): 1.21; 95% confidence interval (ci): 0.90 to 1.62], pfs (hr: 1.02; 95% ci: 0.78 to 1.34) and orr (−3.0%; 95% ci: −7.6% to 1.7%). Both treatments showed similar toxicities, but there were marginally higher risks of grade 3/4 hand–foot syndrome (5%; 95% ci: 0.1% to 9.8%), diarrhea (4.8%; 95% ci: 1.1% to 8.5%), and anorexia (4.4%; 95% ci: 0.8% to 8.0%) for cabozantinib. Subgroup results for os and pfs were consistent with overall results. Conclusions Overall, this nma determined that cabozantinib and regorafenib have similar clinical benefits and toxicities for second-line hcc.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 6508-6508 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hochhaus ◽  
H. Kantarjian ◽  
M. Baccarani ◽  
F. Cervantes ◽  
T. Facon ◽  
...  

6508 Background: Dasatinib (BMS-354825) is a novel, oral, multi-targeted kinase inhibitor of BCR-ABL and SRC kinases with proven preclinical and clinical activity against imatinib resistant BCR-ABL mutations. Methods: CA180013 is an open-label Phase II study of dasatinib in imatinib-resistant (IM-R) or -intolerant (IM-I) patients (pts) with CP-CML. Between February-August 2005, 424 pts were recruited from 75 centers worldwide. Dasatinib was given at 70 mg twice daily (BID) with dose escalation to 90 mg BID in pts lacking response, and dose reductions to 50 and 40 mg BID for toxicity. Evaluations were weekly blood counts for the first 12 weeks; bone marrow cytology and cytogenetics every 3 months. The primary endpoint was rate of major cytogenetic response (MCyR; ≤35% Philadelphia pos. metaphases) in IM-R pts. Results: Data are currently available from the first 186 pts (127 IM-R, 59 IM-I) accrued prior to May 12, 2005. Median age was 59 yrs (range 24–79); 46% were male. Median time from diagnosis of CML was 64 months. Of the IM-R pts, 72% received IM >3 yrs, and 72% had >600 mg/day of IM. Overall, 70% had received prior interferon alpha. 62 (33%) pts achieved a prior MCyR to IM. With ≥6 months of follow up, 168 (90%) pts had a complete hematologic response (CHR). MCyR were achieved in 83 (45%) pts including 40 (31%) of IM-R pts, and 43 (73%) of IM-I pts. Mutations in the BCR-ABL domain were found in 65/176 (37%) pts; 57 (88%) achieved CHR, and 24 (37%) MCyR. Molecular response analysis is ongoing. 160 (86%) pts remain on study without progression. Grade 3/4 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia was reported in 83 (45%) pts and 85 (46%) pts with onset after 4–8 weeks of therapy in most pts. Temporary dose interruptions occurred in 146 (78%), and dose reductions in 96 (52%) pts with a median daily of 108 (range 19–169) mg. Non-hematologic toxicity consisted mainly of Grade 1/2 diarrhea, headache, superficial edema, and pleural effusion, with ≤2% Grade 3/4. There was no cross-intolerance between dasatinib and IM. Conclusions: Dasatinib demonstrated substantial hematologic and cytogenetic activity in IM-R and IM-I pts with CP-CML. An updated analysis of 424 pts with ≥6 months of follow up will be presented. [Table: see text]


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