Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Tivantinib Sees Positive Phase 2 Study Results

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form liver cancer worldwide, is on the rise. Soon, however, the drug Tivantinib may be used as a MET inhibitor to control the disease.

Pharmaceutical Business Review reports that Daiichi Sankyo senior executive officer and R&D global head Glenn Gormley said:

“The strong overall survival results among HCC patients in this trial whose tumors were MET-high reinforce this previous research that defines MET as a critical pathway in cancer as well as the activity of tivantinib as a MET inhibitor.”

Daiichi Sankyo and ArQule have announced that their most recent study, Phase 2, has received positive results for the drug, Tivantinib, when tested inpatients who have received other treatments for HCC previously, according to Market Watch.

The study consisted of 107 patients who have unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma and either experienced disease progression after first-line therapy or were unable to tolerate first-line therapy. They were randomized in a placebo-controlled, double-blinded study, according to Pharmaceutical Business Review.

The patients were put into three groups, one receiving 360 mg of tivantinib twice daily, one receiving 240 mg twice per day, and one group receiving a placebo. The goal was to study the time to progression in the intent to treat population.

Market Watch reports that Lorenza Rimassa, Deputy Director, Medical Oncology Unit, Humanitas Cancer Center, Milan, Italy stated:

“Patients living with this disease need more options to slow progression. The findings from this tivantinib study represent the first  randomized data reported in HCC with an investigational MET inhibitor, as single-agent therapy in second-line treatment. The data suggest that patients significantly benefited in time to progression and, importantly, those in a biologically relevant MET-high subgroup had an additional significant advantage in overall survival.”

In the end, scientists were able to show that those who received the tivatinib drug for hepatocellular carcinoma saw a 56 percent improvement, which was statistically significant when compared to the placebo.

Check out more information about HCC below: