Research progress regarding programmed cell death 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 inhibitors combined with targeted therapy for treating hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Combination therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

Combination therapy	Trial name	Phase	Number of patients	Control	Outcome (months or rate)	Ref.
Lenvatinib + pembrolizumab	KEYNOTE-524	Ib	100	None	ORR: 46% by mRECIST and 36% by RECIST v1.1; mPFS: 9.3 mo by mRECIST and 8.6 mo by RECIST v1.1; mOS: 22.0 mo	Finn et al[29]
Lenvatinib + nivolumab	Study-117	Ib	30	None	ORR: 76.7%, DCR: 96.7%, CBR: 83.3%	Kudo et al[30]
Avelumab + axitinib	VEGF liver-100	Ib	22	None	mOS: 12.7 mo, 1-yr OS rate: 54.5%; ORR: 13.6% by RECIST v1.1 and 31.8% by mRECIST	Kudo et al[31]
Pembrolizumab + regorafenib	KN-743	Ib	36	None	ORR: 28%, DCR: 91%	Galle et al[32]
Camrelizumab + apatinib	RESCUE	II	190	None	ORR for first- and second-line treatment: 34.3% and 22.5%, mPFS: 5.7 and 5.5 mo; 12-mo OS rate: 74.7% and 68.2%	Xu et al[33]
Atezolizumab + bevacizumab	IMbrave150	III	501	Sorafenib	mOS: 19.2 mo vs 13.4 mo; mPFS: 6.9 mo vs 4.3 mo	Finn et al[34]
Lenvatinib + pembrolizumab	LEAP-002	III	750	Lenvatinib + placebo	Ongoing	Llovet et al[35]
camrelizumab + apatinib	NCT03764293	III	510	Sorafenib	Ongoing	National Cancer Institute[36]
Cabozantinib + atezolizumab	COSMIC-312	III	740	Sorafenib or cabozantinib	Ongoing	Kelley et al[37]

CBR: Clinical benefit rate; DCR: Disease control rate; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HR: Hazard ratio; MOS: Median overall survival; MPFS: Median progression-free survival; MRECIST: Modified response evaluation criteria in solid tumors; RECIST v1.1: Response evaluation criteria in solid tumors version 1.1; NE: Not estimable; ORR: Objective response rate; OS: Overall survival; VEGF: Vascular endothelial-derived growth factor.