Key clinical point : The development of treatment-related adverse events was significantly correlated with improve overall and progression-free survival in HCC patients treated with ICI monotherapy in clinical trials.
Major finding : Treatment-related adverse events were reported in 56% of patients with unresectable or advanced HCC; the development of adverse events was associated with longer overall survival and progression-free survival rates compared to patients who did not develop treatment-related adverse events (16.7 months vs 11.2 months; 5.5 months vs 2.2 months, respectively).
Study details : The data come from a cohort of 406 adults with unresectable or advanced HCC who were receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy while enrolled in clinical trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration.
Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. Lead author Dr. Pinato disclosed lecture fees from ViiV Healthcare, and Bayer Healthcare; travel expenses from BMS and Bayer Healthcare; consulting fees for Mina Therapeutics, EISAI, Roche, AstraZeneca; and research funding (to his institution) from MSD and BMS.
Source: Pinato DJ et al. Eur J Cancer. 2021 Sep 8. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2021.08.020.