Adjuvant PD-1 Inhibitor for Patients With Early-stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma Following Microwave Ablation

Adjuvant PD-1 Inhibitor for Patients With Early-stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma Following Microwave Ablation: a Prospective Cohort Study

For early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, i.e. Barcelona Clinical Liver Cancer Stage 0, ablation is the standard treatment with a comparable prognosis and less risk of ablation compared with liver resection. However, ablation is demanding on the surgeon and patients often face early recurrence if ablation is not complete. Therefore, it is necessary to find reasonable adjuvant treatment to consolidate the effect of microwave therapy.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Hepatocellular Carcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: PD-1 Inhibitors

Detailed Description

For early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, i.e. Barcelona Clinical Liver Cancer Stage 0, ablation is the standard treatment with a comparable prognosis and less risk of ablation compared with liver resection. However, ablation is demanding on the surgeon and patients often face early recurrence if ablation is not complete. Therefore, it is necessary to find reasonable adjuvant treatment to consolidate the effect of microwave therapy. There is no consensus on postoperative adjuvant therapy, especially for the management of early-stage HCC. Most scholars believe that HCC in this period does not have high-risk factors for tumor recurrence, thus neglecting the role of adjuvant therapy. Early studies have found that microwave ablation can alter the tumor microenvironment, which is conducive to the action of immune checkpoint inhibitors such as PD-1 inhibitors and even has a synergistic anti-tumor effect. We therefore designed this prospective cohort study to explore the efficacy and safety of adjuvant PD-1 inhibitors after microwave surgery.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 200
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: WanGuang D Zhang; Phone Number: +8613886195965; Email: wgzhang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn

Study Locations

• China
  • Wuhan, China, 430000
    • Recruiting
    • Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
    • Contact: WanGuang D Zhang; Phone Number: +8613886195965; Email: wgzhang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 18-75 years
• Pathological type is HCC, BCLC stage 0-A
• No extrahepatic HCC
• No radiographic recurrence at 2-4 weeks after ablation
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performing status of 0-1
• Child-Pugh grade A or B and adequate hematologic and organ function

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any history of other malignant tumors or recurrent HCC
• Any preoperative treatment for HCC including local and systemic therapy
• Any acute active infectious diseases, active or history of autoimmune disease, or immune deficiency
• Any persistent serious ablation-related complications
• Esophageal and/or gastric variceal bleeding within 6 months
• Inability or refusal to comply with the treatment and monitoring
• Participation in other clinical trials

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: PD-1 inhibitor adjuvant therapy group; Received adjuvant PD-1 inhibitor 2-4 weeks after microwave surgery for a total of 9 cycles of treatment	Drug: PD-1 Inhibitors; Patients in the intervention group received post-operative adjuvant PD-1 inhibitor therapy, 240 mg intravenously every three weeks for nine cycles
No Intervention: Control group; Receive regular monitoring and follow-up

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disease-free survival	Disease-free survival was defined as the period from inclusion in the study until tumor recurrence, death from any cause.	From date of include in this research until the date of first documented recurrence or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 60 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall survival	Overall survival was defined as the period from study inclusion until death from any cause.	From date of include in this research until the date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 60 months
Adverse effects	Adverse reactions are defined as any reaction during treatment that is inconsistent with the purpose of the treatment.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Chen Xiaoping
• Investigators: Study Director: WanGuang D Zhang, Tongji Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 31, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 31, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): February 8, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 2, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 29, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; PD-1 inhibitor; Microwave ablation; Adjuvant therapy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Liver Diseases; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Adenocarcinoma; Liver Neoplasms; Carcinoma; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Antineoplastic Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Pharmacologic Actions; Chemical Actions and Uses; Therapeutic Uses; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors
• Other Study ID Numbers: HOPE-01

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