Sorafenib

Liver cancer — the fastest-growing cause of cancer death in the U.S. — has been notoriously difficult to treat.

Sorafenib maintenance therapy reduced the risk for relapse and death after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation among a subset of patients with acute myeloid leukemia, according to study results published in Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Donafenib conferred a modest but statistically significant OS improvement as first-line therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, according to study results presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program.

Thomas A. Abrams, MD, senior physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, spoke with Healio about treatment options for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. He discusses first-line treatment, guidance on aspirin use and important, recent FDA approvals.

Atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab improved OS and PFS compared with sorafenib among patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, according to results of the randomized phase 3 IMbrave150 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Adults with radioactive iodine-refractory thyroid cancer and sarcopenia who are treated with sorafenib are no more likely to experience a dose modification due to drug toxicity than a similar patient without sarcopenia, according to findings from an exploratory analysis of the DECISION trial.

Atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab delayed time to deterioration of quality of life, physical functioning and role functioning compared with standard-of-care sorafenib as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, according to patient-reported outcomes of the randomized phase 3 IMbrave 150 study scheduled for presentation at Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Treatment with transarterial chemoembolization and Nexavar improved progression-free survival compared with transarterial chemoembolization alone in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, according to a study published in Gut.

The FDA granted the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab priority review and breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma previously treated with sorafenib, according to a company-issued press release.

CHICAGO — Bryan R. Haugen, MD, professor of medicine in the department of medicine-endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes at the University of Colorado School of Medicine received the 2019 Sydney H. Ingbar award during the Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association.