Dr. Abou-Alfa on LY2157299 in HCC

Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the phase II study of a novel transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β1) receptor I kinase inhibitor, LY2157299 monohydrate, in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which was presented at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Abou-Alfa says this is an interesting study because TGF-β1 is an important target in HCC. The study evaluated outcomes based on drops in alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), an associated marker with HCC. However, Abou-Alfa says AFP is not a prognostic or predictive marker.

The median survival was just shy of 6 months for the whole population, but the data for the patients who showed the biggest drop in AFP showed an overall survival of nearly 2 years.

Abou-Alfa says TGF-β1 needs to be studied further and evaluated from this perspective.