Key clinical point : After a median of 27 months’ follow-up, the rates of conversion therapy and both overall and progression-free survival were significantly higher in HCC patients treated with pembrolizumab-lenvatinib-TACE compared to those treated with lenvatinib-TACE.
Major finding : The rate of conversion therapy at the last follow-up was 25.7% in the pembrolizumab-lenvatinib-TACE group vs 11.1% in the lenvatinib-TACE group; median overall survival was 18.1 months in the pembrolizumab-lenvatinib-TACE group vs 14.1 months in the lenvatinib-TACE group, and median progression-free survival interval was 9.2 months in the pembrolizumab-lenvatinib-TACE group vs 5.5 months in the lenvatinib-TACE group.
Study details : The data come from a retrospective study of 142 consecutive adult patients with programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1)-positive unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma who were treated with either pembrolizumab-lenvatinib-transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or lenvatinib-TACE sequential therapy.
Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.
Source: Chen S et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2021 Aug 28. doi: 10.1007/s00432-021-03767-4.