Dr. Singal on the Potential for Immunotherapy in HCC

Amit G. Singal, MD, associate professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center, discusses the potential of immunotherapy in the treatment landscape of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Nivolumab (Opdivo) is currently being evaluated in the second-line setting of HCC in the CheckMate-040 trial. There are also data anticipated for nivolumab against sorafenib (Nexavar) from the CheckMate-459 trial, Singal says. These results will be presented in late 2018, and if positive, Singal says that it would revamp the entire landscape and change how clinicians approach the treatment of patients with HCC.

In September 2017, the FDA granted an accelerated approval to nivolumab for the treatment of patients with HCC following prior sorafenib, regardless of PD-L1 status. This approval was based on findings from the CheckMate-040 trial, which reported an overall response rate of 18.2% for patients who had undergone previous treatment with sorafenib.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is also being studied in this tumor type, which would add another treatment option, Singal says.