Dr. He on Future Treatment for Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Aiwu Ruth He, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine, Georgetown-Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the combination regimen of bevacizumab (Avastin) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Results show that patients with HCC who received this combination experienced an improvement in progression-free and overall survival (OS) compared with sorafenib (Nexavar). The median OS for bevacizumab and atezolizumab was not estimable compared with 13.2 months for patients who received sorafenib. Additionally, the median progression-free survival (PFS) with atezolizumab/bevacizumab was 6.8 months compared with 4.3 months for sorafenib.

This combination therapy could become a frontline systemic therapy for advanced-stage HCC, says He. A randomized phase III trial evaluating the combination is ongoing.