A Retrospective Study of Safety and Efficacy of Locoregional Therapies Combined With Anti-VEGF/TKIs and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for All Comers of Intention-to-treat Patients With Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot listed
Trial typeObservational
Biological sexAll
Age16+
SponsorNingbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital

About this trial

This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study aiming to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combined conversion therapy strategy for patients with initially unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).The primary objective is to assess the outcomes of intention-to-treat (ITT) patients who received multidisciplinary conversion therapy. This therapy combines locoregional treatments (LRT, such as TACE or radiotherapy) with systemic therapy (anti-VEGF/tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors) with the goal of down-staging tumors to allow for subsequent curative resection.

The study plans to enroll 300 subjects. The exposure group will include approximately 100 patients with initially unresectable HCC who received the combined conversion therapy between January 2018 and December 2024. A control group of about 200 patients with initially resectable HCC who underwent direct radical surgery during the same period will be used for comparison. Data will be collected retrospectively from hospital electronic medical records and the HCC clinical database, with follow-up until December 2025.

Eligibility criteria

This trial does not accept healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Aged 16 years or older.

Clinical and/or pathological diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). China Liver Cancer (CNLC) stage I, II, or IIIA.

Assessed by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) as having initially unresectable HCC.

Disqualifiers

Presence of extrahepatic metastasis.

Presence of Cheng's type IV portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT).

Presence of Cheng's type II or III inferior vena cava tumor thrombus (IVCTT).

Trial population

This retrospective single-center cohort study includes 300 HCC patients (2018-2024), divided by initial resectability: Initially Unresectable HCC Cohort(N=100): Received multimodal conversion therapy (LRT + anti-VEGF/TKIs + ICIs) aiming to downstage tumors for resection. Initially Resectable HCC Cohort(N=200): Underwent direct radical resection without prior conversion therapy. Patients were aged ≥16 with CNLC stage I-IIIA HCC. Exclusions: extrahepatic metastasis or Cheng's type IV PVTT/type II-III IVCTT. Data are collected retrospectively from EMR and an HCC database.

Trial design

Design model

Case-control

Time perspective

Retrospective

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Locoregional Therapy (LRT) + Systemic Drug Therapy

    Combination product

    Treatment regimens, doses, and durations varied based on individual clinical decisions and are collected retrospectively.

Treatment groups

300 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups
Group A: Initially Unresectable HCC with Conversion Therapy1 intervention
Group B: Initially Resectable HCC0 interventions

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Conversion Rate

Proportion of ITT patients with initially unresectable HCC successfully down-staged to resectability after conversion therapy (per MDT reassessment).

Time frame
From the start of conversion therapy until the completion of therapy (assessed up to 24 months).
2

1-, 2-, and 3-year OS in ITT Population

Proportion of patients in the ITT population alive at 1, 2, and 3 years after initiation of conversion therapy (Kaplan-Meier method).

Time frame
Starting from conversion therapy, evaluate at 1, 2, and 3 years.
3

Resection Rate After Conversion

Proportion of patients who successfully undergo curative resection after down-staging.

Time frame
From the start of conversion therapy to the day of surgery (with a maximum evaluation period of 24 months).

Secondary outcomes

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

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