The Evolving Landscape of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

This is a video synopsis/summary of a Post-Conference Perspectives featuring Anwaar Saeed, MD, and Amit Singal, MD, MS.

The video opens with Saeed and Singal welcoming viewers to the program on advances in treatment for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). They note this is an exciting time for drug development in this disease, with recent approvals of targeted therapies and immunotherapies leading to major improvements in outcomes over the past 3 to 5 years.

Singal then outlines the evolution of the HCC treatment landscape, recalling how a decade ago, sorafenib was the only available first-line systemic therapy option, with a median survival of around 11 months. It took 10 years for the next first-line drug, lenvatinib, to be approved, offering similar survival but higher response rates and longer progression-free survival compared to sorafenib. Just a couple years ago, immunotherapy entered the first-line setting with approval of the combination of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab. This regimen demonstrated the first survival benefit over sorafenib in phase 3 testing. Most recently, the combination of durvalumab plus tremelimumab was also approved upfront after showing superior survival and response rates vs sorafenib.

Beyond the first-line setting, Singal notes there is excitement about testing these newer regimens even earlier, including in the adjuvant setting after resection/ablation and in combination with transarterial chemoembolization for patients with localized disease.

Video synopsis is AI-generated and reviewed by OncLive® editorial staff.