
Tecentriq surprises in adjuvant liver cancer
Given the mixed track record of Roche’s Tecentriq in perioperative cancer uses, today’s apparent success of the Imbrave-050 trial comes as a pleasant surprise. The study tested Tecentriq plus Avastin in adjuvant liver cancer, and the combo is said to have beaten active surveillance alone on its primary endpoint of relapse-free survival. The precise contribution of Avastin to this result is unknown, but the success comes after the same combo was approved three years ago for first-line inoperable liver cancer on the basis of Imbrave-150. Tecentriq’s other perioperative success was in adjuvant NSCLC, where the drug is approved in ≥1% PD-L1 expressers on the basis of Impower-010, and an Abraxane combo read out positively in the perioperative triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) trial Impassion-031, albeit on pathological complete response, likely not an approvable endpoint. Apart from that Tecentriq monotherapy and combos have failed several pivotal perioperative trials, including Imvigor-010, Imagyn-050, Impassion-050 and Immotion-010; the next big readout, from Impassion-030 in adjuvant TNBC, is expected soon. Specifically in adjuvant liver cancer this year could also see data from three other anti-PD-(L)1 drugs: Shanghai Junshi’s toripalimab, Astrazeneca’s Imfinzi and Innovent’s sintilimab.
Phase 3 studies in adjuvant hepatocellular carcinoma | |||
---|---|---|---|
Drug | Trial | Setting | Primary endpoint & status |
Tecentriq (Roche) | Imbrave-050 | + Avastin, vs active surveillance | RFS, toplined positive Jan 2023 |
Toripalimab (Shanghai Junshi) | Jupiter-04* | MonoRx, vs placebo | RFS, ends Apr 2023 |
Imfinzi (Astrazeneca) | Emerald-2 | +/- Avastin, vs placebo | RFS, ends May 2023 |
Sintilimab (Innovent) | Dadali* | + Avastin, vs active surveillance | RFS, ends Dec 2023 |
Camrelizumab (Jiangsu Hengrui) | SHR-1210-III-325* | + apatinib, vs active surveillance | RFS, ends Jul 2024 |
Opdivo (Bristol/Ono) | Checkmate-9DX | MonoRx, vs placebo | RFS, ends Dec 2024 |
Tislelizumab (Beigene) | NCT05564338 | +/- sitravatinib, vs placebo | RFS, ends Sep 2026 |
Keytruda (Merck & Co) | Keynote-937 | MonoRx, vs placebo | RFS & OS, ends Oct 2027 |
Notes: RFS=relapse-free survival; *China study. Source: clinicaltrials.gov. |