The FDA has approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq®, Genentech, Inc.) in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin®, Genentech, Inc.) for patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have not previously received systemic therapy. The approval was based on IMbrave150 (NCT03434379), a phase 3 trial that enrolled 501 patients with unresectable HCC. Patients were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive atezolizumab 1,200 mg administered intravenously followed by be...

​The FDA has granted accelerated approval to the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo®, Bristol-Myers Squibb) and ipilimumab (Yervoy®, Bristol-Myers Squibb) for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma following treatment with sorafenib. Safety and efficacy were evaluated in Cohort 4 of the phase 1/2 CHECKMATE-040 trial (NCT01658878), in which patients previously treated with sorafenib were randomized to receive either nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every three weeks for fo...

In the phase 3 REFLECT trial, lenvatinib, an oral multikinase inhibitor, showed non-inferior survival compared with sorafenib in patients with untreated, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the assessment of baseline liver function as a prognostic factor for patients with unresectable HCC receiving lenvatinib had not yet been investigated. In a post hoc analysis of the trial, a team of researchers led by Arndt Vogel, MD, Professor of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Hannover Medica...

​In advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), nivolumab (Opdivo®, Bristol-Meyers Squibb) is superior to sorafenib (Nexavar®, Bayer) with regard to health-related quality of life (HRQOL), according to results of the phase 3 CheckMate 459 trial to be reported on Friday at the 2020 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. For CheckMate 459, 743 patients with advanced HCC were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive nivolumab or sorafenib. The researchers reported in September at the 44th European Society fo...

With a median overall survival of only 11 months, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHC) warrants more effective therapies. Researchers recently discovered that a regimen of hepatic arterial infusion of floxuridine plus systemic gemcitabine and oxaliplatin produces promising outcomes in patients with unresectable IHC. In this phase 2 clinical trial, 38 patients with histologically confirmed, unresectable IHC were enrolled and treated. Participants with resectable metastatic disease to regional ly...