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Current State of Immunotherapy for HCC—Supporting Data and Toxicity Management

  • Hepatic Cancer (A Singal and A Mufti, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Hepatology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

After having tyrosine kinase inhibitor as only available one drug class to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for more than a decade, immunotherapy agents are now approved for second-line therapy and are currently being compared head-to-head with sorafenib for first-line treatment. It is becoming increasingly important for hepatologists to become aware of agents in development, potential adverse events, and suggested treatment monitoring.

Recent Findings

Nivolumab and pembrolizumab have both shown promising phase II data in the second-line setting for HCC and phase III data in both the first-line and second-line settings are anticipated soon. Durable responses of 15–20% is seen as a potential breakthrough and may translate into improved survival for patients with advanced HCC. While immunotherapies are well tolerated overall, rare but serious immune-mediated adverse events are possible and warrant monitoring to facilitate early treatment when needed. There is ongoing research of combinations with immunotherapy agents and other systemic agents and/or locoregional therapies to further enhance response rates.

Summary

Ongoing studies will define the role of immunotherapy for treatment of HCC, both as single agents as well as in combination with other therapies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Anthony Bejjani & Richard S. Finn

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  1. Anthony Bejjani
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  2. Richard S. Finn
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Correspondence to Richard S. Finn.

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Conflict of Interest

Richard S. Finn reports personal fees from Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eisai, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, Roche/Genentech, during the conduct of the study. Anthony Bejjani declares no potential conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Hepatic Cancer

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Bejjani, A., Finn, R.S. Current State of Immunotherapy for HCC—Supporting Data and Toxicity Management. Curr Hepatology Rep 17, 434–443 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-018-0442-6

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