Background

Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab was approved for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in 2020, but treatment outcomes of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab in real-world settings remain unclear. Hyperprogressive disease (HPD), an acceleration of tumor growth occurring in some types of malignancies treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, was assessed in HCC patients receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab.

Methods

Tumor growth kinetics (TGK) and tumor growth rate (TGR) were calculated at pre- and post-treatment in 88 Japanese patients with HCC receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab. HPD was defined as progressive disease with ≥ two-fold increase in TGK and TGR. The association of baseline characteristics with HPD was analyzed.

Results

The best objective responses were partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease in 12 (13.6%), 51 (58.0%), and 25 (28.4%) patients, respectively. The median progression-free survival was 5.0 months. Eleven (12.5%) and 9 (10.2%) patients had a TGK ratio and a TGR ratio of ≥ 2, respectively. HPD was observed in 9 patients (10.2%) and they showed significantly shorter overall survival than patients without HPD (median, 4.3 months vs. not reached; p < 0.001). Patients with HPD had larger and more intrahepatic tumors, higher levels of α-fetoprotein and lactate dehydrogenase, and higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) at baseline than patients without HPD. NLR of ≥ 3 at baseline was identified as the only independent factor associated with HPD in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

HPD was observed in 10.2% of HCC patients receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, and an elevated NLR at baseline had an increased risk of HPD.

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