Myongji Hospital doctor contributes to landmark study on breakthrough liver cancer treatment

Park Joong-won, a professor of gastroenterology at Myongji Hospital, has contributed to an international phase 3 study showing that a new immuno-oncology combination therapy improves survival and tumor reduction in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared to existing treatments. 

This study marks a new turning point in the treatment of HCC, as it demonstrates that immuno-oncology combinations may be a better treatment alternative for patients with inoperable HCC who have been limited by conventional drug therapy alone.

The global study, titled “Nivolumab plus ipilimumab versus lenvatinib or sorafenib as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (CheckMate 9DW),” was published in the May issue of The Lancet, a leading medical journal.

CheckMate 9DW was a multinational phase 3 trial involving 668 patients with inoperable HCC at 163 hospitals in 25 countries. The researchers divided the patients into two groups, with one group receiving the immuno-oncology drug combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab, and the other group receiving either lenvatinib or sorafenib, the existing standard of care, to compare the effectiveness of the treatment.

The results showed that the nivolumab-ipilimumab immuno-oncology group had a median survival of 23.7 months, statistically significantly longer than the 20.6 months of the conventional treatment group. Two years after starting treatment, the survival rate was 49 percent in the immuno-oncology arm and 39 percent in the conventional arm, and at three years, the survival rate was 38 percent and 24 percent, respectively, in favor of the immuno-oncology arm.

The objective response rate, which is a reduction in tumor size with treatment, was nearly three times higher in the immuno-oncology arm at 36 percent compared to 13 percent in the conventional arm. The duration of response was also longer in the immuno-oncology arm, averaging 30.4 months compared to 12.9 months in the conventional arm.

In addition, 47 percent of patients who received immuno-oncology remained in response at 36 months after the end of treatment, and the incidence of adverse events was similar in both treatment groups, indicating a relatively good safety profile.

“This study demonstrated that novel immuno-oncology combinations can be an effective strategy for prolonging survival and reducing cancer in advanced liver cancer patients who are difficult to treat with surgery or other local therapies,” Professor Park said. “In addition to existing immuno-oncology therapies, novel immuno-oncology combinations can improve patients’ treatment options and effectiveness, leading to longer survival and improved quality of life.”

Professor Park is the director of the Center for Hepatology and Liver Cancer and the Center for Integrated Cancer Care at Myongji Hospital, and has led the development of liver cancer treatment, including establishing the first multidisciplinary treatment guidelines for liver cancer in Korea and the first in the world to identify the effectiveness of radiation therapy for liver cancer.