Therapeutic efficacy of lenvatinib for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma based on the middle-term outcome

by Akira Fuchigami, Yukinori Imai, Yoshihito Uchida, Hiroshi Uchiya, Yohei Fujii, Manabu Nakazawa, Satsuki Ando, Kayoko Sugawara, Nobuaki Nakayama, Tomoaki Tomiya, Satoshi Mochida

This study sought to clarify the usefulness of lenvatinib for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

The subjects were 69 patients with HCC receiving lenvatinib; the median age was 73 years, and 14 and 67 patients had been previously treated with regorafenib and/or sorafenib and therapies without molecular-targeted agents, respectively. Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated using contrast-enhanced CT images obtained 4–8 weeks after the start of lenvatinib and the middle-term outcome using Kaplan-Meier method.

The baseline Child-Pugh scores were 5, 6 and 7 in 31, 32 and 6 patients, respectively, and the modified albumin-bilirubin (mALBI) grades were 1, 2a and 2b in 20, 20 and 29 patients, respectively. The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages following downsizing after prior treatment were A, B and C in 17, 22 and 30 patients, respectively. The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in 54 patients, and the percentages of patients achieving CR, PR, SD and PD were 3.7%, 44.4%, 37.0%, and 14.8%, respectively. The ALBI scores deteriorated significantly between 4 and 12 weeks after the start of therapy, compared with the baseline. The cumulative survival rates at 48 weeks were significantly higher among patients achieving CR/PR (95.5%) than among those showing no response (54.3%). Multivariate analyses revealed that the BCLC stages and the serum AFP levels were significantly associated with therapeutic efficacy, while the mALBI grade was associated with the middle-term outcome.

A favorable middle-term outcome was obtained in patients with HCC receiving lenvatinib, especially in those manifesting grades 1/2a mALBI at baseline, despite the deterioration in ALBI scores during treatment.