Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab Alone or Combined with External Beam Radiotherapy for HCC with Macrovascular Invasion (ALERT-HCC)

February 19, 2025 updated by: Ju Hyun Shim, Asan Medical Center

A Randomized, Multicenter, Open-Label, Phase II Trial of Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab Alone or Combined with External Beam RadioTherapy for HepatoCellular Carcinoma with Macrovascular Invasion (ALERT-HCC)

The recent global IMbrave150 study evaluated the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab versus sorafenib in 501 patients with advanced or metastatic Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). The median overall survival (OS) was notably better in the atezolizumab/bevacizumab group. However, for HCC patients with intrahepatic macrovascular invasion (MVI), the prognosis remains poor, indicating a significant unmet need in this group.

External Beam Radiotherapy (EBRT) has shown promising results in treating HCC with MVI, especially when used in combination with trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE). It has been reported that radiotherapy may make tumor cells more susceptible to immune-mediated therapy, potentially enhancing the effects of atezolizumab and bevacizumab.

Thus, this study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of atezolizumab/bevacizumab alone versus atezolizumab/bevacizumab in combination with EBRT in HCC patients with macrovascular invasion.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A total of 138 subjects are randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups (69 patients in the atezolizumab+bevacizumab group and 69 patients in the Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab combined EBRT group).

  • Radiotherapy combination:

    • Atezolizumab will be administered by IV, 1200 mg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.
    • Bevacizumab will be administered by IV, 15 mg/kg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.
    • The external beam radiotherapy will commence after day 2 of the first cycle of Atezolizumab+Bevacizumab, and will be delivered in accordance with institutional protocol.

  • Atezolizumab+Bevacizumab:

    • Atezolizumab will be administered by IV, 1200 mg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.
    • Bevacizumab will be administered by IV, 15 mg/kg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.

Additional study identifiers: This study was also registered on the WHO's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, CRIS, before the first participant was enrolled (ID: KCT0007365, Date of registration: 2022-06-08).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

138

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Korea, Republic of
      • Seoul, Korea, Republic of
        • Recruiting
        • Asan Medical Center
        • Contact:
          • Ju Hyun Shim

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Older than 19 years of age, lower than 80 years of age
  • Child-Pugh class A hepatic function
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) of 0-1
  • Patients with HCC [diagnosed according to AASLD guidelines] invading the intrahepatic vascular system
  • No prior systemic therapy for HCC
  • At least one measurable HCC lesion with ≥ 1cm diameter

  • Adequate hematologic and organ function

    • Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL
    • Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,000 /mm3
    • Platelet ≥ 50,000/ mm3 without transfusion
  • Total bilirubin ≤ 2.5 mg/dL

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Treatment history of prior systemic treatment of HCC
  • Liver transplant recipients
  • Patients with peptic ulcer, untreated or incompletely treated varices with bleeding or high-risk for bleeding
  • Any serious illness (e.g., active infection or inflammatory condition) or uncontrolled severe medical comorbidity
  • A history of treated malignancy (other than HCC) is allowable if the patient's malignancy has been in complete remission, off chemotherapy and without additional surgical intervention, during the preceding two years
  • Abdominal/pelvic radiotherapy within 28 days prior to initiation of study treatment, except palliative radiotherapy to bone lesions within 7 days prior to initiation of study treatment

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Radiotherapy combination

Atezolizumab+Bevacizumab, combined EBRT to vascular invasion

  • Atezolizumab will be administered by IV, 1200 mg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.
  • Bevacizumab will be administered by IV, 15 mg/kg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.
  • The external beam radiotherapy will commence after day 2 of the first cycle of A+B, and will be delivered in accordance with institutional protocol.
Radiation: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, combined EBRT to vascular invasion

The external beam radiotherapy will commence after day 2 of the first cycle of atezolizumab+bevacizumab, and will be delivered in accordance with institutional protocol.

3D-conformal radiotherapy technique is used to determine target volumes, radiation ports, and dose prescriptions by using a 3D radiotherapy planning system.

The gross tumor volume (GTV) includes vascular invasion and a 2-cm margin into the contiguous HCC. The GTV can consist of the entire HCC and vascular invasion at the discretion of the investigator.

The target dose is 45 Gy, however, the total dose can be reduced as low as 30 Gy according to the liver function, liver volumes, or the maximum dose to the stomach/duodenum during the planning process according to the judgment of the radiation oncologist of each participating sites.
Active Comparator: Atezolizumab+Bevacizumab
  • Atezolizumab will be administered by IV, 1200 mg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.
  • Bevacizumab will be administered by IV, 15 mg/kg on day 1 of each 21day cycle.
Drug: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab
Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab q3w

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
progression-free survival rate
Time Frame: up to approximately 3 years
Randomization to the first occurrence of disease progression or death from any cause, whichever occurs first
up to approximately 3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Overall survival rate
Time Frame: up to approximately 3 years
Randomization to death from any cause, through the end of study
up to approximately 3 years
Objective response
Time Frame: up to approximately 3 years
complete response or partial response as determined by the Investigator according to RECIST V1.1
up to approximately 3 years
Adverse reaction rate
Time Frame: through study completion, up to approximately 3 years
Adverse reaction rate assessed by CTCAE version 5
through study completion, up to approximately 3 years
Time to deterioration
Time Frame: through study completion, up to approximately 3 years
The time from randomization to first deterioration (decrease from baseline of ≥10 points) in the patient-reported global health status (GHS) / Quality of life (QoL), physical function, or role function scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30, maintained for two consecutive assessments, or one assessment followed by death from any cause within 3 weeks
through study completion, up to approximately 3 years
Duration of response
Time Frame: up to approximately 3 years
the time interval from the date of first occurrence of a documented objective response (CR or PR, whichever status is recorded first) until the first date that disease progression or death is documented, whichever occurs first. DOR will be assessed in patients who had an objective response.
up to approximately 3 years
Tumor marker response (AFP, PIVKA-II)
Time Frame: through study completion, up to approximately 3 years
The decrease of >20% in serum concentration of each marker from baseline across all time points during study period.
through study completion, up to approximately 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Asan Medical Center

Collaborators

Seoul National University Hospital
Hanyang University
Soon Chun Hyang University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ju Hyun Shim, Asan Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 22, 2022

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 27, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 7, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

August 15, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 19, 2025

Last Verified

January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • KCT0007365 (Registry Identifier: CRIS (International Clinical Trials Registry Platform))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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