First-in-class immune-modulating small molecule Icaritin in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: preliminary results of safety, durable survival and immune biomarkers.
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ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:With poor prognosis and limited treatment options for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), development of novel therapeutic agents is urgently needed. This single-arm phase I study sought to assess the safety and preliminary efficacy of icaritin in human as a potential oral immunotherapy in addition to the immune-checkpoint inhibitors. METHODS:Eligible advanced HCC patients with Child-Pugh Class A or B were administered with a fixed oral dose of icaritin at either 600 or 800 mg b.i.d. The primary endpoint was safety, and the secondary endpoints included time-to-progression (TTP), overall survival (OS) and the clinical benefit rate (CBR). Icaritin treatment induced immune biomarkers and immune-modulating activities in myeloid cells were also explored. RESULTS:No drug-related adverse events ? Grade 3 were observed in all 20 enrolled HCC patients. Among the 15 evaluable patients, 7 (46.7%) achieved clinical benefit, representing one partial response (PR, 6.7%) and 6 stable disease (SD, 40%). The median TTP was 141 days (range: 20-343?days), and the median OS was 192 days (range: 33-1036?days). Durable survival was observed in PR/SD patients with a median OS of 488 days (range: 72-773). TTP was significantly associated with the dynamic changes of peripheral neutrophils (p?=?0.0067) and lymphocytes (p?=?0.0337). Icaritin treatment induced changes in immune biomarkers-and immune-suppressive myeloid cells were observed. CONCLUSIONS:Icaritin demonstrated safety profiles and preliminary durable survival benefits in advanced HCC patients, which were correlated with its immune-modulation activities and immune biomarkers. These results suggested the potential of icaritin as a novel oral immunotherapy for advanced HCC in addition to antibody-based PD-1/PD-L1 blockade therapies. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Clinicaltrial.gov identifier. NCT02496949 (retrospectively registered, July 14, 2015).
SUBMITTER: Fan Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6437929 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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