Phase III trial of lenvatinib (LEN) vs sorafenib (SOR) in first-line treatment of patients (pts) with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC).

<jats:p> 4001 </jats:p><jats:p> Background: SOR is the only approved agent in uHCC and new options are needed. LEN, an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1‒3, fibroblast growth factor receptors 1‒4, platelet derived growth factor receptor α, RET, and KIT, showed activity in uHCC in a phase II trial. We report a phase III trial of LEN vs SOR as first-line therapy for uHCC. Methods: In this randomized, open-label, noninferiority (NI) study, pts had uHCC, ≥ 1 measurable target lesion, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B or C, Child-Pugh class A, ECOG PS ≤ 1, and no prior systemic therapy. Pts were randomized 1:1 to LEN (body weight ≥ 60 kg: 12 mg/day; < 60 kg: 8 mg/day) or SOR 400 mg twice daily. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS). The OS hazard ratio (HR) and its 95% CI were estimated with a stratified Cox proportional hazard model. The predefined NI margin was 1.08. Secondary efficacy endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), time to progression (TTP) and objective response rate (ORR) by modified RECIST. Type I error rates for secondary efficacy endpoints were controlled with a fixed sequence procedure at 2-sided α = 0.05 after OS NI was claimed. Results: 954 Pts enrolled (LEN: 478; SOR: 476). Efficacy outcomes are shown in the table. A similar number of pts in both arms had treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). Most common LEN TEAEs were hypertension (42%), diarrhea (39%), decreased appetite (34%), decreased weight (31%), and fatigue (30%). Median (range) treatment duration was 5.7 mos (0−35.0) for LEN and 3.7 mos (0.1−38.7) for SOR. 13% Of LEN-treated and 9% of SOR-treated pts discontinued due to adverse events. 33% Of LEN-treated and 39% of SOR-treated pts received second-line therapy. Conclusions: LEN is noninferior in OS, and achieves statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in PFS, TTP, and ORR, as first line therapy for uHCC. TEAEs were consistent with the known LEN safety profile. Clinical trial information: NCT01761266. [Table: see text] </jats:p>