Does ramucirumab deserve a second chance for liver cancer?
Mené sur 565 patients atteints d'un carcinome hépatocellulaire de stade avancé, cet essai de phase III évalue l'efficacité, du point de vue de la survie globale, et la toxicité du ramucirumab après un traitement de première ligne par sorafénib
A decade ago, absence of proven survival benefit was the rule in the evaluation of a large number of systemic drugs in hepatocellular carcinoma. This scenario completely changed with the advent of sorafenib, an oral multikinase inhibitor with antiproliferative and anti-angiogenic activity, which in two randomised studies showed a significant improvement in survival and delay in tumour progression with an adequate safety profile. Sorafenib became a first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and opened the door to investigations of other molecularly targeted therapies in this orphan disease.
The Lancet Oncology , commentaire, 2014