Tovoli F, Negrini G, Benevento F, Faggiano C, Goio E, Granito A. Systemic treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma: challenges and future perspectives.
Hepat Oncol 2018;
5:HEP01. [PMID:
30302192 PMCID:
PMC6168042 DOI:
10.2217/hep-2017-0020]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2017] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Sorafenib has been the only approved systemic treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for almost a decade. Recently, two new drugs showed positive results in two Phase III studies. The RESORCE trial identified regorafenib as a valid second-line treatment for patients progressing to sorafenib, the REFLECT trial showed that lenvatinib is noninferior to sorafenib as front-line treatment. Following these trials, the therapeutic scenario will be dominated by anti-VEGFR drugs, with three different molecules showing a proven anticancer activity. Some open problems still remain and different immunotherapy trials are underway, following promising preliminary results. In this review we analyze: the most recent advancements about patients treated with sorafenib; the results of RESORCE and REFLECT trials; and the ongoing Phase III clinical trials. Finally, we discuss how they could address the current problems and possibly reshape the future of the systemic treatments for HCC.
Collapse