Dr. Vogel on the OS Benefit of Durvalumab/Tremelimumab in Unresectable HCC

Arndt Vogel, MD, managing senior consultant, professor, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, head, GI-Cancer Center, Hannover Medical School, discusses the outcomes of the phase 3 HIMALAYA trial (NCT03298451) in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The randomized, open-label, multi-center, global study evaluated the efficacy and safety of durvalumab (Imfinzi) alone and in combination with tremelimumab vs sorafenib (Nexavar) in patients with advanced HCC who had no prior systemic therapy.

Data showed that single tremelimumab and regular-interval durvalumab demonstrated superior activity vs sorafenib in terms of overall survival (OS), and durvalumab monotherapy was non-inferior to sorafenib, Vogel says.

Patients with HCC typically suffer from chronic liver disease and liver cirrhosis, which led investigators to analyze the effect of liver function on OS and overall efficacy of the regimens, Vogel explains.

Investigators found that liver function had an important prognostic effect in patients. The median OS was nearly double in patients that have well-preserved liver function, Vogel concludes.