Efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with TACE in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma refractory to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

e15504 Background: Effective options for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are urgently needed. Studies have shown that combination of sorafenib with TACE could imorove survival for the treatment of locoregional HCCs. Apatinib is a novel and highly selective inhibitor of VEGFR2 tyrosine kinase. We were aiming to explore the efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with TACE in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma refractory to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. Methods: This was a single-center single-arm phase 2 study. The key inclusion criteria included: (1) Histologicaly and cytologicaly diagnosed as Hepatocellular carcinoma of the liver ( HCC ) and with at least one imaging examination of measurable lesions, CT or MR scan long diameter of tumor ≥ 10 mm. (2) BCLC B / C; (3) Progressed after at least twice TACE. Eligible pts received apatinib at 500 mg/day for a maximum after TACE 4-7 days, and TACE treatment was performed after 4 days of discontinuation of apatinib until unacceptable toxicity or tumor recurrence. The primary endpoint was time to progression (TTP), which was defined as the time from enrollment to disease progression. The secondary endpoint was overall survival (OS) and treatment safety. Results: From May 27, 2018 to Oct 12, 2019, 22 pts wereenrolled. 5 pts received TACE more than 5 times, and 17 pts received TACE within 4 times. For 20 evaluable pts, two pts achieved partial response (10%), and 13 patients achieved stable disease. The ORR and DCR were 10% and 75%, respectively. At the cutoff data of Nov 4, 2019, 5 pts were still on treatment. 16 recurrenced and 5 death occurred. The mTTP was 5.09 months (95% CI, 3.48-7.16), and the mOS was not reached. Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 12 pts (60%). Seven grade 3 or 4 adverse events were reported (35%), respectively wereascites (2), platelet count decrease (1), elevated ALT/AST (1), hypertension (1), proteinuria (1) and nausea (1). None of the treatment related AEs was fatal. Conclusions: Apatinib combined with TACE might be effective and tolerant in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma refractory to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. Clinical trial information: NCT03510416.