Lessons From Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Trials in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Mohr R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8042255 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Introduction: Several immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) are under clinical development in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the field is advancing rapidly. In this comprehensive review, we discuss published results and report on ongoing clinical trials. Methods: A literature search was carried out using PubMed and EMBASE; data reported at international meetings and clinicaltrials.gov were included as well. The search was updated 5 March 2021. We evaluated studies with monotherapy CPI's, combinations of CPI's and combinations of CPI's with other treatment modalities separately. Only studies with at least 10 included patients were considered. Results: We identified 2649 records published in the English language literature. After review, 29 studies remained, including 12 studies with preliminary data only. The obtained overall response rate of PD-1/PDL-1 monotherapy in phase II studies in the second-line setting was 15-20% with disease control in approximately 60% of patients. The responses were of long duration in a subset of patients. Furthermore, the safety profiles were manageable. However, a phase III study comparing nivolumab with sorafenib in the first-line setting and a phase III study evaluating pembrolizumab versus best supportive care in the second-line setting did not meet their prespecified endpoints. More recently, a phase I/II study of nivolumab and ipilimumab has resulted in a response rate of approximately 30% with a median OS of 22 months in the second-line setting. Multiple trials have been initiated to evaluate CPIs in combination with molecularly targeted drugs, especially anti-angiogenic drugs or local therapy. A phase III study investigating atezolizumab plus bevacizumab versus sorafenib in the first-line setting showed significantly increased survival in the combination arm. Conclusions: The combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab represents a new standard of care in the first-line setting for fit patients with preserved liver function. CPIs can produce durable tumor remission and induce long-standing anti-tumor immunity in a subgroup of patients with advanced HCC. Although phase III trials of CPI monotherapy have been negative, the combination of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors with other anti-angiogenic drugs, CTLA-4 inhibitors or other modalities may result in new treatment options for patients with HCC. Research on predictive biomarkers is crucial for further development of CPIs in HCC.
| S-EPMC8234948 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have been applied to treat advanced stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and obtain promising effects. However, tumor response to treatment was unpredictable. A predicting biomarker of objective response or disease-control is an unmet need for patient selection. In this study, 45 advanced HCC patients who failed to sorafenib treatment and received nivolumab, 3 mg/kg bi-weekly, were included. Tumor responses to nivolumab treatment were assessed by the modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST) criteria. Tumor responses were correlated to clinical characteristics to find out response predictors. In this small series, the prevalence of extrahepatic nodal metastasis, distant metastasis, and portal vein thrombus among the patients were 22.2% (n = 10), 48.9% (n = 22), and 42.2% (n = 19), respectively. The pre-treatment tumor size was 7.2 ± 4.2 cm in maximal diameter, and the calculated total tumor volume was 619.0 ± 831.1 cm3. Among 45 patients, 3 patients had partial response (PR), 11 had stable disease (SD), and the other 31 had progression of disease. By correlating clinical data to the patients with PR and SD, serum neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.04) and patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) score (HR = 2.30) were the independent factors in multivariate analysis. By receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, pre-treatment NLR ≤ 2.5 and PG-SGA score < 4 were the cutoff points to predict tumor response to ICI treatment. In conclusion, biomarkers to predict tumor response for HCC are still lacking in this costly ICI therapy. In this study, NLR ≤ 2.5 and PG-SGA score < 4 indicated disease-control, and can be applied as biomarkers to select the right patients to receive this costly therapy.
| S-EPMC8036568 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Until recently, the treatment landscape for hepatocellular cancer (HCC) was dominated by tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) which offered an overall survival (OS) benefit when used both in the first-and second-line setting compared to best supportive care. However, the treatment landscape has changed with the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for the treatment of HCC with significant improvement in OS and progression free survival reported with combination atezolizumab and bevacizumab compared to sorafenib in the first-line setting. Nonetheless, the response to ICIs is 20-30% and invariably patients will progress. What remains unclear is which therapeutics should be used following ICI exposure. Extrapolating from the evidence base in renal cell carcinoma, subsequent therapy with TKIs offers both a response and survival benefit and are recommended by European guidelines. However, there are a number of novel therapies emerging that target mechanisms of ICI resistance that hold promise both in combination with ICI or as subsequent therapy. This paper will discuss the evidence for ICIs in HCC, the position of second-line therapies following ICIs and research strategies moving forward.
| S-EPMC8005707 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThis study aimed to evaluate safety and efficacy of programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor sintilimab plus tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in a real-word cohort of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC).MethodsA total of 60 patients treated with sintilimab plus TKI between February 2019 and December 2019 were enrolled. Radiological response was recorded by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline and every 6-12 weeks after treatment initiation. Tumor response was assessed according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1 and HCC-specific modified RECIST (mRECIST).ResultsAs of the data cutoff on September 30st, 2020, the median duration of follow-up was 10.4 (4.3-23.9) months. The objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 36.7% (95% CI: 24.9-48.5%), 81.7% (95% CI: 71.9-91.5%) according to the RECIST 1.1, and 52.8% (95% CI: 39.1-66.5%), 83.0% (95% CI: 73.2-93.8%) according to mRECIST criteria. Among 36 HCC patients with multinodular HCC or locally-advanced HCC with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), 14 patients received one session of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) within 1 month before or after the combinational systemic therapies, and the rest 22 patients did not receive any local regional therapies. After propensity score matching, patients from the TACE group tended to have a longer PFS (median, 10.1 vs. 9.1 months, P=0.73) than those from the non-TACE group but without significant differences. A total of 8 patients received surgical resection after the combined systemic therapies and 3 patients achieved pathological CR. No recurrence or metastasis was observed in 6 patients. A total of 46 (76.7%) patients reported adverse event (AE) with any grade and 8 (13.3%) patients discontinued the combination therapy due to grade 3/4 severe adverse events.ConclusionsPD-1-targeted immunotherapy sintilimab plus TKIs exhibited promising efficacy with tolerable toxicity in unresectable HCC. The addition of TACE to the combined systemic therapies also resulted in a favorable tumor control and safety. For select responders, surgical resection might be a choice for radical treatment.
| S-EPMC8106062 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and advanced HCC generally caries a poor prognosis. The treatment of advanced disease is limited to sorafenib, which provides only a limited improvement in survival, and novel therapies are, thus, sorely needed. Among emerging alternative approaches, immune checkpoint inhibitors are a particularly promising treatment modality. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the mechanisms for the two primary targets of immune checkpoint inhibitors and discuss the relevance of these pathways to the immunology of HCC. We also review the state of ongoing and forthcoming trials of immune checkpoint blockade in HCC.
| S-EPMC6095178 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The position of immunotherapy as a pillar of systemic cancer treatment has been firmly established over the past decade. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a welcome option for patients with different malignancies. This is in part because they offer the possibility of durable benefit, even for patients who have failed other treatment modalities. The recent demonstration that immunotherapy is effective for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a milestone in the history of this recalcitrant disease. The treatment of HCC has been a challenge, and for many years was limited to the tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib and to several novel tyrosine kinase inhibitors that have shown efficacy and have been approved. The current role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the management of HCC, and how this role is likely to evolve in the years ahead, are key. Other than efforts evaluating single checkpoint inhibitors, potential combination strategies, including combinations with existing local and systemic approaches, including novel therapies are evolving. This is understandably of special interest considering the potential unique immune system of the liver, which may impact the use of immunotherapy in patients with HCC going forward, and how can it be enhanced further.
| S-EPMC7944520 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with nivolumab and pembrolizumab are promising agents for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) but lack of effective biomarkers. We aimed to investigate the potential predictors of response and factors associated with overall survival (OS) for ICI treatment in unresectable HCC patients. Ninety-five patients who received nivolumab or pembrolizumab for unresectable HCC were enrolled for analyses. Radiologic evaluation was based on RECIST v1.1. Factors associated with outcomes were analyzed. Of 90 patients with evaluable images, the objective response rate (ORR) was 24.4%. Patients at Child-Pugh A or received combination treatment had higher ORR. Early alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) >10% reduction (within 4 weeks) was the only independent predictor of best objective response (odds ratio: 7.259, p = 0.001). For patients with baseline AFP ?10 ng/mL, significantly higher ORR (63.6% vs. 10.2%, p < 0.001) and disease control rate (81.8% vs. 14.3%, p < 0.001) were observed in those with early AFP reduction than those without. In addition, early AFP reduction and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade or Child-Pugh class were independent factors associated with OS in different models. In conclusion, a 10-10 rule of early AFP response can predict objective response and survival to ICI treatment in unresectable HCC. ALBI grade and Child-Pugh class determines survival by ICI treatment.
| S-EPMC7017111 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background & aimsAlthough immunotherapy has emerged as an attractive therapy for refractory cancers, its limited efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) suggests the need for a combination strategy that can either enhance or complement therapeutic effect. We investigated whether combination of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) and radiation could enhance antitumor effect in a murine HCC model.MethodsUsing murine HCC, HCa-1, the effect of radiation on programmed death-ligand1 (PD-L1) expression was determined by real-time PCR, flow cytometry, and western blotting. Signaling pathways involved in altered PD-L1 expression were examined. Tumor growth and survival rate were evaluated for a combination of anti-PD-L1 and radiation. Immunological parameters in the tumor were assessed using flow cytometry and histological study.ResultsRadiation upregulated PD-L1 expression in tumor cells through IFN-?/STAT3 signaling, which could facilitate therapeutic action of anti-PD-L1. Combination of anti-PD-L1 and radiation significantly suppressed tumor growth compared to treatment with anti-PD-L1 alone or radiation alone group (P<0.01). Survival was significantly improved in the combination group compared to anti-PD-L1 alone or radiation alone group (7-week survival rate; 90% vs. 0% or 30%, respectively, P<0.001). The underlying mechanism involved increasing apoptosis, decreasing tumor cell proliferation, as well as restoration of CD8+ T cell functions.ConclusionsThe combination of anti-PD-L1 and radiation significantly improved the antitumor effect shown in tumor growth delay as well as in survival, supporting a novel combination strategy of immunoradiotherapy in HCC.
| S-EPMC5522235 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has an extremely poor prognosis and is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Immune checkpoint suppression has become the most effective treatment option for liver cancer. The strategies used for immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting cancer therapies have been affected by some significant successes, including blocking the advanced-stage malignant tumor by death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand (PDL-1), and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA4) pathways. T cell immunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and ITIM domains (TIGIT) is an immune checkpoint that participates in tumor immune surveillance. Mainly expressed on T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and other antigen-presenting cells (APCs), it diminishes cytokine production and exhibits strong suppressive properties. TIGIT achieves a more active antitumor immune response and highlights a pivotal role for cancer immunotherapy. Preclinical studies have found inhibitory effects using a targeted approach. Monotherapy targeting TIGIT or in combination with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of patients with advanced solid malignancies have demonstrated improved antitumor immune responses. Due to the high tumor heterogeneity of liver cancer, immune checkpoint suppression therapy still needs further exploration. Therefore, we provide insights into the characteristics of TIGIT and the immune system in HCC.
| S-EPMC7407725 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Despite the advances in screening protocols and treatment options, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still considered to be the most lethal malignancy in patients with liver cirrhosis. Moreover, the survival outcomes after failure of first-line therapy for unresectable HCC is still poor with limited therapeutic options. One of these options is immune checkpoint inhibitors. The aim of this study is to comprehensively review the efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients with HCC.
| S-EPMC7712941 | biostudies-literature