Factors Affecting Second-Line Therapy Choices in HCC

Wasif M. Saif, MD, deputy physician in chief at Northwell Health Cancer Institute and a professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, discusses available novel therapies for treating hepatocelluclar carcinoma (HCC) in the second-line setting.

HCC is a heterogenous disease and difficult to treat, according to Saif, but there are now multiple agents available to treat patients who have failed first-line therapy, including 3 targeted agents—regorafenib (Stivarga), cabozantinib (Cabometyx), and ramucirumab (Cyramza)—and 2 immunotherapy agents — nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda). However, there are no randomized data to inform oncologists which patient is right for each agent.