Therapeutic efficacy of lenvatinib for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma based on the middle-term outcome

AIM: This study sought to clarify the usefulness of lenvatinib for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: The subjects were 69 patients with HCC receiving lenvatinib; the median age was 73 years, and 14 and 67 patients had been previously treated with regorafenib and/or sorafenib and therapies without molecular-targeted agents, respectively. Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated using contrast-enhanced CT images obtained 4–8 weeks after the start of lenvatinib and the middle-term outcome using Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The baseline Child-Pugh scores were 5, 6 and 7 in 31, 32 and 6 patients, respectively, and the modified albumin-bilirubin (mALBI) grades were 1, 2a and 2b in 20, 20 and 29 patients, respectively. The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages following downsizing after prior treatment were A, B and C in 17, 22 and 30 patients, respectively. The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated in 54 patients, and the percentages of patients achieving CR, PR, SD and PD were 3.7%, 44.4%, 37.0%, and 14.8%, respectively. The ALBI scores deteriorated significantly between 4 and 12 weeks after the start of therapy, compared with the baseline. The cumulative survival rates at 48 weeks were significantly higher among patients achieving CR/PR (95.5%) than among those showing no response (54.3%). Multivariate analyses revealed that the BCLC stages and the serum AFP levels were significantly associated with therapeutic efficacy, while the mALBI grade was associated with the middle-term outcome. CONCLUSIONS: A favorable middle-term outcome was obtained in patients with HCC receiving lenvatinib, especially in those manifesting grades 1/2a mALBI at baseline, despite the deterioration in ALBI scores during treatment.