Apatinib as first-line treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a phase II clinical trial

Background: The prognosis for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains clinically unsatisfying. Apatinib has proven to be a very effective treatment for advanced HCC in our previous retrospective study. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and toxicity of apatinib in patients with advanced HCC.

Methods: This single-arm, open-label phase II clinical trial enrolled patients with advanced HCC. These patients received apatinib, 500 mg once daily, until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, consent withdrawal, or death. One treatment cycle consisted of 4 weeks of apatinib treatment. The response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) was used to assess tumor response every 1-2 cycles. The primary endpoint was the objective response rate (ORR), while the secondary endpoints were the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), disease control rate (DCR), and toxicity.

Results: Between December 2016 and June 2018, 23 patients were enrolled in the study, 22 of whom were available for response evaluation. The cutoff date was August 10, 2018. The overall ORR and DCR were 30.4% and 65.2%, respectively. The median OS and PFS were 13.8 (95% CI: 5.3-22.3) and 8.7 (95% CI: 5.9-11.1) months, respectively. The most common treatment-related adverse events were proteinuria (39.1%), hypertension (34.8%), and hand-foot-skin reaction (34.8%).

Conclusions: Apatinib showed robust clinical activity in patients with advanced HCC. Moreover, apatinib was safe to use, well tolerated, and had acceptable toxicity. (NCT03046979).