Targeted agent and radiotherapy possible solutions to immunotherapy resistance in liver cancer — study

The trial showed that targeted treatment and radiotherapy can potentially help liver cancer patients.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s medicine department revealed that targeted agents and radiotherapy can help treat liver cancer patients.

According to CU Medicine, a multi-centre clinical trial was conducted between October 2020 and May 2022 along with two other sites in South Korea. Experts specifically looked into the use of an oral targeted agent in advanced liver cancer patients who developed resistance to immunotherapy.

The study showed that patients survived for a median of 14.3 months after targeted treatment if they received only one line of immunotherapy before. Conditions of around 80% of patients “at least partly stabilised” after starting with the targeted treatment, with a partial response in 6.4% and a stable disease in 76.6%. 

Most of the patients tolerated the medication well, with only 6.4% suffering from moderate to severe side effects. 

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CU Medicine also studied the use of radiotherapy on those who had developed immunotherapy resistance. The researchers reviewed the clinical outcomes of 105 patients who had received the mentioned treatment between 2016 and 2022. 

“Of the 5 patients who have developed resistance to immunotherapy, they found that the addition of radiotherapy to patients with limited cancer volume in the liver could survive for a median period of 24.5 months without any significant side effects. They also observed that some patients with main portal vein thrombosis responded to radiotherapy,” the institution said.

Dr. Landon Chan, assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology at CU Medicine, said they are already planning trials to expand the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of liver cancer.