Sorafenib Plus Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) Improves Survival for Patients with Liver Cancer

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE, patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are ineligible for surgery may benefit from combined therapy of sorafenib and selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT).

In the multicenter, phase 2 clinical study conducted in Asia, patients with inoperable HCC were started on SIRT using SIR-Spheres microspheres that contain yttrium-90. The microspheres provide short range high energy radiation therapy. Then, patients are given sorafenib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, 14 days later.

Researchers found that the combination therapy improved median overall survival by 20.3 months for patients with intermediate stage HCC and 8.6 months for those with advanced liver cancer. In addition, researchers observed a median time to progression of 15.2 months for those with locally advanced HCC and 9 months for patients with advanced liver cancer. Furthermore, the study showed that patients with locally advanced HCC who undergo combination therapy may be downstaged to possibly receive curative therapy.

In light of the results of this phase 2 study, a phase 3 multicenter study has begun to further study the effect SIRT and sorafenib combination therapy and to determine whether it could potentially be first-line treatment for patients with advanced HCC.