RT+ Anti-PD-1 for Patients With Advanced HCC (RT+PD-1-HCC)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy, and its incidence is expected to increase in many countries in coming decades. Approximately 70-80% of newly diagnosed HCC patients already have advanced disease. Sorafenib and lenvatinib are recommended as first-line options for advanced HCC, the median overall survival of the patients with advanced HCC receiving sorafenib reached 10.7 months. Based on the results of phase II clinical studies and the recommendation of guidelines, the PD-1 monoclonal antibody, such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab, have been approved to treat the patients with advanced HCC by the FDA. PD-1 monoclonal antibody has been recommended as a second-line therapeutic strategy for HCC in the 2018 CSCO guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of primary liver cancer. However, the results of existing studies indicate that the objective response rate (ORR) of first-line PD-1 antibody therapy for patients with advanced liver cancer is about 20%. There is a growing recognition of radiation-induced cancer cells-external tumor control mechanisms, in which radiation therapy(RT) contributes not only to local control of target lesions, but also to the control of metastases away from the treatment site. In recent years, RT combined with immunotherapy as a new treatment method has achieved certain curative effect in some patients with metastatic cancer. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the efficacy of combining radiation therapy plus systemic anti-PD-1 immunotherapy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.