Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to assess efficacy and safety of anlotinib as a first- or second-line treatment for advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) and to identify the predictive plasma cytokines on efficacy of anlotinib.Methods: It was a phase II clinical study. Patients with aHCC were recruited from October 2016 to April 2019 and divided into two cohorts according to previous tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) therapy. Those without or with prior TKIs were in Cohort 1 or 2, respectively. All patients took anlotinib (12mg/day, Day1–14, three weeks per cycle). The primary endpoint was 12-week progression free survival (PFS) rate. Relationship between series plasma cytokine level and efficacy of anlotinib was analyzed.Results: Enrolled 26 patients in Cohort 1 and 24 in Cohort 2. In Cohort 1, the 12-week PFS rate was 80.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 59.8%–91.5%) and median time to progression (TTP) was 5.9 months (95% CI; 4.8–6.9). In Cohort 2, the 12-week PFS rate and median TTP was 72.5% (95% CI; 48.7%–86.6%) and 4.6 months (95% CI; 2.7–10.0), respectively. The median TTP on patients with baseline plasma level of CXCL1 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1) less than 7.6 ng/μl was significant longer in both cohorts. The most common grade 3–5 adverse events were hypertension (8%), diarrhea (8%) and hand-foot syndrome (6%). Conclusion: Anlotinib showed promising efficacy and safety as a first- or second-line treatment with a continuous TKIs treatment strategy in aHCC. The plasma CXCL1 might be a predictor for efficacy of anlotinib.
Regorafenib as second-line therapy for intermediate or advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Multicentre, open-label, phase II safety study