Baseline immune signature score as predictor for response to atezolizumabbevacizumab in hepatocellular carcinoma

Lead Investigator: Sandra Tessa Hattenhauer, University Hospital Bonn
Title of Proposal Research: Baseline immune signature score as predictor for response to atezolizumabbevacizumab in hepatocellular carcinoma
Vivli Data Request: 8757
Funding Source: None
Potential Conflicts of Interest: None

Summary of the Proposed Research:

Liver cancer is the 6th most common cancer worldwide and represents the third leading cause of cancer-related death. The most prevalent primary liver cancer type is hepatocellular cancer (HCC, from the latin word for liver “hepar”). Its development is usually preceded by liver cell damage, which is often related to viral infection or alcohol abuse.

For advanced or metastatic stage of HCC, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (drugs that block chemical messengers called tyrosine kinases, which help to send growth signals in cells, so blocking them stops the cell growing and dividing) were the only approved first-line treatment regime in recent decades.

A new therapeutic option represents the combination therapy with atezolizumab (immunotherapy: stimulates the antitumor immune response) and bevacizumab (tyrosin kinase inhibitor). In clinical routine, for each HCC patient the decision whether to use this recommended immunotherapy combination has to be made.

Our main research topic is the investigation of predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy response. If the prediction of therapy failure to immunotherapy would be possible, non-responders could be treated with alternative therapy regimes and an unsuccessful use of immunotherapy with potentially high side effects could be avoided. Conversely, immunotherapy could be offered specifically to patients who benefit from this therapy approach.

Recently, we published an immunotherapy score predicting response to immunotherapy in a pancancer population with a high predictive value (doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1054161 ). We would like to investigate this score, as well as other immune cells, for their predictive value for therapy response to atezolizumab/bevacizumab in patients with HCC.

Requested Studies:
A Phase III, Open-Label, Randomized Study of Atezolizumab in Combination With Bevacizumab Compared With Sorafenib in Patients With Untreated Locally Advanced or Metastatic Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Data Contributor: Roche
Study ID: NCT03434379
Sponsor ID: YO40245