HCC

Despite the widespread prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), effective treatment options for both primary and secondary liver tumors have remained elusive, as these tumors are difficult to manage, especially in cases where the tumor is unresectable.

The hepatic portal vein is critical to normal liver function and supplies approximately 75% of the blood supply to the liver. In the general population, portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is relatively rare, occurring with an incidence of about in 1 in 100,000 people.

Both in the United States and worldwide, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is on the rise, and, despite extensive research, sorafenib (Nexavar) remains the only FDA-approved systemic therapy available for advanced tumors.

The FDA has approved defibrotide sodium (Defitelio) as a treatment for severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) with associated kidney or lung abnormalities following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), based on data from the collection of 3 studies.

Ghassan Abou-Alfa, MD, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the significance of a recent trial and how the findings can impact the treatment paradigm of HCC.

Unresectable Hepatocellular carcinoma with Amit Singal, MD and Richard Finn, MD

Ghassan Abou-Alfa says serafnib is currently the only first-line treatment approved for HCC based on the SHARP trial, where the treatment showed improved survival in patients from 7.9 months to 10.7 months.

Unresectable Hepatocellular carcinoma with Amit Singal, MD and Richard Finn, MD

The FDA has granted the A3AR agonist CF102 a fast track designation as a second-line treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The drug is also planned to be tested in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.

The presence of circulating tumor DNA in serum could predict microscopic vascular invasion of the portal vein and extrahepatic metastasis following surgery for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Treatment with tivantinib has proven highly effective in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and with high MET expression, suggesting a prognostic and predictive biomarker of response.