Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy Improves the Efficacy of Hepatic Artery Infusion Chemotherapy in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) and anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) immunotherapy have shown promising outcomes in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), respectively. However, the combination of the two treatments has not been reported. In this study, we compared the efficacy of HAIC combined with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy (HAICAP) and HAIC in patients with advanced HCC. METHODS: Between November 2018 and December 2019, advanced HCC patients that were treated with either HAICAP or HAIC were retrospectively recruited and reviewed for eligibility. Efficacy was evaluated according to tumor response and survival. RESULTS: As a result, 229 patients were included in this study. Patients were divided into HAICAP group (n = 81) and HAIC group (n = 148) accordingly. The follow-up time ranged from 1.0 to 21.6 months, with a median of 11.0 months. The median overall survival was 18.0 months in the HAICAP group and 14.6 months in the HAIC group (p = 0.018; HR = 0.62; 95% CI 0.34–0.91). The median progression-free survival was 10.0 months in the HAICAP group and 5.6 months in the HAIC group (p = 0.006; HR = 0.65; 95% CI 0.43–0.87). The disease control rate in overall response (83% vs 66%; p = 0.006) and intrahepatic response (85% vs 74%, respectively; p = 0.045) were higher in the HAICAP group than in the HAIC group. CONCLUSION: In comparison to HAIC, HAICAP was associated with a better treatment response and survival benefits for patients with advanced HCC.