Cancers, Vol. 12, Pages 3025: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Current Status and Novel Perspectives

Cancers, Vol. 12, Pages 3025: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Current Status and Novel Perspectives Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers12103025 Authors: Piera Federico Angelica Petrillo Pasqualina Giordano Davide Bosso Antonietta Fabbrocini Margaret Ottaviano Mario Rosanova Antonia Silvestri Andrea Tufo Antonio Cozzolino Bruno Daniele Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represent a promising treatment for many kinds of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The rationale for using ICIs in HCC is based on the immunogenic background of hepatitis and cirrhosis and on the observation of high programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in this cancer. Promising data from phase I/II studies in advanced HCC, showing durable objective response rates (~20% in first- and second-line settings) and good safety profile, have led to phase III studies with ICIs as single agents or in combination therapy, both in first and second line setting. While the activity of immunotherapy agents as single agents seems to be limited to an “ill-defined” small subset of patients, the combination of the anti PD-L1 atezolizumab and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor bevacizumab revealed a benefit in the outcomes when compared to sorafenib in the first line. In addition, the activity and efficacy of the combinations between anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 antibody and other ICI...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research