Abstract
The combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab (A + B) is the new standard of care for the systemic first-line treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, up to now there are only few data on the safety and efficacy of A + B in real life. We included patients with advanced HCC treated with A + B as first-line therapy at four cancer centers in Germany and Austria between December 2018 and August 2021. Demographics, overall survival (OS), and adverse events were assessed until 15 September 2021. We included 66 patients. Most patients had compensated cirrhosis (n = 34; 52%), while Child–Pugh class B cirrhosis was observed in 23 patients (35%), and class C cirrhosis in 5 patients (8%). The best responses included a complete response (CR) in 7 patients (11%), a partial response (PR) in 12 patients (18%), stable disease (SD) in 22 patients (33%), and progressive disease in 11 patients (17%). The median progression-free (PFS) survival was 6.5 months, while the median overall survival (OS) was not reached in this cohort (6-month OS: 69%, 12-month OS: 60%, 18-month OS: 58%). Patients with viral hepatitis seemed to have a better prognosis than patients with HCC of non-viral etiology. The real-world PFS and OS were comparable to those of the pivotal IMBRAVE trial, despite including patients with worse liver function in this study. We conclude that A + B is also highly effective in a real-life setting, with manageable toxicity, especially in patients with compensated liver disease. In patients with compromised liver function (Child B and C), the treatment showed low efficacy and, therefore, it should be well considered before administration to these patients.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1722 |
| Journal | Cancers |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| ISSN | 2072-6694 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.04.2022 |
Funding
Conflicts of Interest: V.H. reports no conflicts of interest. M.P. is an investigator for Bayer, BMS, Lilly, and Roche and received speaker honoraria from Bayer, BMS, Eisai, Lilly, and MSD; he is a consultant for Bayer, BMS, Ipsen, Eisai, Lilly, MSD, and Roche and received travel support from Bayer and BMS. B.S. received travel support from AbbVie, Gilead and Ipsen. M. V. received honoraria from Merck Serono, Bayer Vital, and Sirtex and is a member of the advisory boards of Ipsen, Roche, Bayer, Lilly, Nordic Pharma, BMS, MSD, and Amgen. F.S. has nothing to declare. C.C. received fees and travel support from Eisai, MSD, Ipsen, Falk Foundation. J.U.M. received fees from Roche, Astra, Jansen, Abbvie, Shionogi, leap, Bayer, Ipsen, J.T. Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer Healthcare, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Eisai, Ipsen, Merck Serono, Merck Sharp & Dome, Lilly Imclone, Roche Servier (C/A), Ipsen, Roche (RF); O.W. served as a speaker and/or consultant for AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bayer, BMS, Celgene, Eisai, Incyte, Ipsen, Merck Serono, MSD, Novartis, Roche, Servier, and Shire. He received travel support from Abbvie, Bayer, BMS, Gilead, Ipsen, Medac, and Merck.
Research Areas and Centers
- Centers: University Cancer Center Schleswig-Holstein (UCCSH)
