A Randomized Phase II Trial of Surgery Plus Sorafenib vs. Sorafenib Alone for Hepatocellular Cancer (HCC) With Portal Vein Invasion

Patients with HCC with portal vein involvement not involving the bifurcation (vP1-vP3) and no evidence of extra-hepatic spread will be enrolled. Patients will be required to have Child's A liver function and no significant portal hypertension. Patients will be randomly assigned with a 1:1 ratio to either surgery followed by adjuvant sorafenib or sorafenib alone. Patients will be followed by serial imaging. The primary end-point is overall survival.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Hepatocellular Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: hepatic resection; Drug: Sorafenib

Detailed Description

Trial design

Surgery + sorafenib vs. sorafenib 100 patients per arm Centralized randomization by CRO Need to call CRO for treatment allocation Primary end-point - OS Secondary end-point Progression free survival (PFS) Randomized 1:1 Stratification Vp1-2 vs. Vp3 AFP ≤400 vs AFP >400 Intention to treat Surgery aborted or R1-2 resection will remain in surgical arm No cross over CT scan chest/abdomen 4 weeks after surgery as post-operative baseline Will not alter treatment allocation Will allow for PFS measurement in surgical arm CT scan chest/abdomen pelvis Q 12 weeks after initiation sorafenib Patients progressing on sorafenib allowed 2nd line treatment Regorafenib or lenvatinib - if approved in China Dose reduction sorafenib as per protocol

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 200
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Wei-Hua Guan, MD; Phone Number: +8613501673307; Email: weiyu.wang@tigermed.net

Study Locations

• China
  • Shanghai, China
    • Recruiting
    • Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital
    • Contact: Shuqun Cheng, MD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Diagnosis of HCC A) 1st diagnosis of HCC - no prior treatments of HCC B) Diagnosis made by contrast enhanced CT or MRI with arterial and portal phases

1. Arterial enhancement
2. Venous washout
3. Expanding/enhancing tumor thrombus seen in portal vein Extent of HCC spread A) Vp1-3 (Japanese system) - VP1-2 (Cheng criteria - Shanghai) B) No involvement of main portal vein Vp4 (Japanese system) - Vp3 Shanghai C) No evidence of extra-hepatic spread in abdomen D) No evidence of hepatic vein or vena cava invasion Need for Biopsy A) Patients not meeting above criteria B) Absence of underlying liver disease Demographics A) Age ≥ 18 Women of reproductive age A) Negative pregnancy test B) Must be on birth control for duration of study Able to provide informed consent No prior malignancy A) Excluding basal/squamous cell skin cancers B) Excluding superficial bladder cancer C) Excluding cervical cancer Underlying liver disease A) HBV, HCV, alcohol, or none B) All HBV patients must be placed on anti-viral therapy prior to any treatment and continue through entire study C) Co-infection HBV with HCV excluded D) HIV infection excluded Liver function/Performance status A) Child's A or B7 liver function B) Absence of clinical portal hypertension

a. Platelet count ≥ 100,000 b. No evidence of varices or splenomegaly on imaging c. No ascites ECOG performance status 0-1 Tumor characteristics A) Size of largest tumor ≤ 10cm B) <50% of liver volume involved by tumor C) Multiple tumors allowed D) All tumors all confined to same lobe as PV involvement E) Hepatic Vein or Inferior Vena Cava involvement excluded Non-contrast CT of chest A) No lung metastases B) Involvement of gallbladder and diaphragm allowed C) Involvement of omentum allowed D) Involvement of abdominal wall allowed E) Involvement of colon, stomach, duodenum excluded

Exclusion Criteria:

Unable to provide informed consent Age <18 years Unable to take anti-viral medication for hepatitis B Unable to take sorafenib Medically unfit for surgery Prior malignancy other than those specifically allowed by study Prior treatment of HCC Tumor characteristics A) HCC >10cm B) Bilobar tumor C) Mixed cholangiocarcinoma HCC D) Extra-hepatic tumor E) Tumor involving stomach, duodenum or colon F) Tumor involving hepatic veins or vena cava G) Tumor involving portal vein bifurcation

Liver disease A) Liver function decompensated beyond Child's B7 B) Significant portal hypertension - splenomegaly, varices, ascites or platelet count <100,000 C) Co-infection with HBV and HCV D) Co-infection with HIV ECOG performance status >1

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Surgery plus sorafenib; surgical resection followed by adjuvant sorafenib	Procedure: hepatic resection; removal of portion of liver containing cancer; Drug: Sorafenib; sorafenib either as adjuvant therapy after resection or as only treatment
Active Comparator: sorafenib only	Drug: Sorafenib; sorafenib either as adjuvant therapy after resection or as only treatment

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
overall survival	time from randomization to death	2-3 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
progression free survival	time from initiation of intervention until progression as defined by RESIST	3-12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: White Plains Hospital
• Collaborators: Sun Yat-sen University; Fujian Cancer Hospital; West China Hospital; Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital; Anhui Provincial Hospital; Cancer Hospital of Guangxi Medical University; Wenzhou People's Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 6, 2019
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 31, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): June 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 31, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 31, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): June 3, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 14, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 8, 2021
• Last Verified: April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: portal vein invasion
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Adenocarcinoma; Carcinoma; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Digestive System Neoplasms; Liver Diseases; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Liver Neoplasms; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Enzyme Inhibitors; Antineoplastic Agents; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Sorafenib
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20190507

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Data will not be shared

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: Yes