Apatinib As Second-Line Therapy In Chinese Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, Phase Iii Study.

4507 Background: Chinese patients (pts) account for more than 50% of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases in the world and have special features in etiology, biological behavior, treatment strategy and prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of apatinib, an inhibitor targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, in Chinese pts with pretreated advanced HCC. Methods: In this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 3 trial done in 31 sites in China, pts with HCC who had received at least one line of systemic therapy (including sorafenib and oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, which is another first-line standard-of-care in China) and had Child-Pugh liver function class A or B ≤7 points were enrolled. The pts were randomly assigned (2:1) to receive 750 mg apatinib orally once daily or placebo and stratified by ECOG performance status (0 or 1), previous sorafenib treatment (yes or no), and extrahepatic spread and/or macrovascular invasion (yes or no) in 28-day treatment cycles. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). Results: Between Apr 01, 2014 and May 03, 2017, 393 pts were randomized and received at least one dose of study treatment (261 in apatinib arm and 132 in placebo arm). The median OS was significantly longer with apatinib than that with placebo (8.7 months [95% CI 7.5-9.8] vs 6.8 months [95% CI 5.7-9.1]; hazard ratio 0.785 [95% CI 0.617-0.998]; p=0.0476). Pts in the apatinib arm also had prolonged median progression free survival (PFS) compared with those in the placebo arm (4.5 months [95% CI 3.9-4.7] vs 1.9 months [95% CI 1.9-2.0]; hazard ratio 0.471 [95% CI 0.369-0.601]; p˂0.0001). The objective response rate was 10.7% (95% CI 7.2-15.1) with apatinib versus 1.5% (95% CI 0.2-5.4) with placebo. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were reported in 250 (97.3%) pts in the apatinib arm and 92 (70.8%) pts in the placebo arm. The most common TRAEs of grade 3 and 4 were hypertension (71 [27.6%] pts in the apatinib arm vs 3 [2.3%] pts in the placebo arm), hand-foot syndrome (46 [17.9%] vs 0), decreased platelet count (34 [13.2%] vs 1 [0.8%]), and decreased neutrophil count (27 [10.5%] vs 0). 24 (9.3%) pts with apatinib and 13 (10.0%) pts with placebo died due to adverse events, and none were deemed treatment-related by investigators. Conclusions: Apatinib significantly prolonged OS and PFS in Chinese pts with pretreated advanced HCC, and was well tolerated with a manageable safety profile. Clinical trial information: NCT02329860 .