Nivolumab in sorafenib-naive and sorafenib-experienced patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: 5-year follow-up from CheckMate 040

BACKGROUND

Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) have a poor prognosis and high mortality. Nivolumab monotherapy demonstrated clinical benefit with an acceptable safety profile in patients with aHCC in the CheckMate 040 study. Five-year follow-up of the sorafenib-naive and sorafenib-experienced groups of CheckMate 040 is presented here.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients received nivolumab monotherapy at dose levels of 0.1-10.0 mg/kg (dose-escalation phase) or 3 mg/kg (dose-expansion phase) every 2 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary endpoints were safety and tolerability (dose escalation), and objective response rate (ORR) by blinded independent central review (BICR) and by investigator as per RECIST version 1.1 (dose expansion).

RESULTS

Eighty sorafenib-naive and 154 sorafenib-experienced patients were treated. Minimum follow-up in both groups was 60 months. ORR as per BICR was 20% [95% confidence interval (CI) 12% to 30%] and 14% (95% CI 9% to 21%) in the sorafenib-naive and sorafenib-experienced groups, respectively. Responses occurred regardless of HCC etiology or baseline tumor cell programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression levels. Median overall survival (OS) was 26.6 months (95% CI 16.6-30.6 months) and 15.1 months (95% CI 13.0-18.2 months) in sorafenib-naive and sorafenib-experienced patients, respectively. The 3-year OS rates were 28% in the sorafenib-naive and 20% in the sorafenib-experienced groups; 5-year OS rates were 14% and 12%, respectively. No new safety signals were identified; grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events were observed in 33% and 21% of patients in the sorafenib-naive and sorafenib-experienced groups, respectively. Biomarker analyses showed that baseline PD-L1 expression ≥1% was associated with higher ORR and longer OS compared with PD-L1 <1%. In the sorafenib-naive group, patients with OS ≥3 years exhibited higher baseline CD8 T-cell density compared with those with OS <1 year.

CONCLUSION

With 5 years of follow-up, nivolumab monotherapy continued to provide durable clinical benefit with manageable safety in sorafenib-naive and sorafenib-experienced patients with aHCC.

Low levels of coagulation inhibitors: A high-risk thrombotic factor in thalassemic patients

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The β-thalassemia major (β-TM) is defined as a hereditary red blood cell-related disease. Thrombotic events are associated with thalassemia in adult patients. Thus, the present investigation was aimed to examine some hemostatic parameters, including anti thrombin-III (AT-III), protein-C (PRC) and protein-S (PRS) in β-TM patients.

METHODS

Thirty B-TM patients who referred for routine follow-up admission to the thalassemia clinic of Kerman Special Disease Center alongside with 30 healthy subjects were selected and enrolled in the present study. Further registration, the peripheral blood specimens were collected after 3 weeks of last transfusion and then the plasma concentrations of AT-III, PRC and PRS were measured in them.

RESULTS

We have observed that the concentrations of natural coagulation inhibitors (PRC and PRS) were significantly attenuated in β-TM patients (P<0.05), while the plasma level of AT-III was not remarkably differed in β-TM patients in compare to healthy subjects.

CONCLUSION

According to the findings of present work, significant changes in the PRC, PRS and AT-III which could be observed in multi transfused β-TM patients may attribute as critical risk factors for the development of upcoming thromboembolic events in their future life.