Safety of Atezolizumab-Bevacizumab in Liver Transplanted Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The prognosis of liver transplanted (LT) patients with recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially those with progression after locoregional treatment or advanced HCC, remains poor. Current treatment modalities involve tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) characterized by a low response rate and often poor tolerability. Encouraging findings from the Imbrave 150 study, demonstrating increased survival rates coupled with favorable treatment tolerance, prompt the investigators to consider the potential of offering the combination of treatment with Atezolizumab-Bevacizumab (Atezo-Beva) to patients with LT. No data regarding the safety and efficacy of this new combination are available for patients with LT as they were not included in Imbrave 150. Immunosuppression after LT is low when compared to essentially all other organ recipients, liver recipients are considered with lower immunological risk. However, the use of ICIs has been associated with a risk of hepatic rejection in LT patients. In this study, in order to prevent acute cellular rejection (ACR) occurrence, we propose to adopt a standardized immunosuppressive regimen closed to the one used immediately after LT but with lower therapeutic goals for tacrolimus and everolimus to allow immunotherapy treatment to be effective. The better tolerance of liver grafts will probably lead to less risk of rejection with Atezo-Beva than in other organ transplants.