The results of a clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of lenvatinib plus transcatheter chemoembolization versus lenvatinib alone in patients with previously untreated advanced liver cancer are reported.

The multicenter, randomized, comparative phase 3 study treated a total of 338 patients at 12 hospitals in China. The lenvatinib monotherapy arm received lenvatinib 12 mg daily (for patients weighing more than 60 kg) or 8 mg daily (for patients weighing less than 60 kg), and the lenvatinib plus transcatheter chemoembolization arm received transcatheter chemoembolization the day after lenvatinib administration.

Median overall survival was 17.8 months in the lenvatinib plus transcatheter chemoembolization arm compared to 11.5 months in the lenvatinib alone arm, a statistically significant prolongation. Median progression-free survival was also statistically significantly prolonged at 10.6 months in the lenvatinib plus transcatheter chemoembolization arm, compared to 6.4 months in the lenvatinib alone arm. The response rate was 54.1% in the lenvatinib plus transcatheter chemoembolization arm, compared to 25% in the lenvatinib alone arm.

The researchers concluded that this study supports the use of the combination of lenvatinib and transcatheter chemoembolization as the new standard of care for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced liver cancer.