Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The majority of primary liver cancers occur as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the incidence of which is increasing in many parts of the world. The vast majority of HCC cases occur in the setting of liver cirrhosis, usually due to chronic viral infections with hepatitis C or hepatitis B, alcohol consumption, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease or diabetes. The degree of underlying liver disease, as well as the stage of the tumour and the general condition of the patients, should therefore be taken into account when deciding on the treatment of HCC. Most patients with HCC have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis, or have recurrent disease after potentially curative treatments. Tislelizumab showed enhanced cellular functional activities by blocking PD-1-mediated reverse signal transduction and activating human T cells and primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro. Based on this preliminary safety profile, and knowing that there is antitumour activity, we can offer tislelizumab as a single agent in patients with unresectable HCC. HESTIA study is a multicentric French national phase II trial assessing tislelizumab in monotherapy for patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Child-Pugh B and ALBI grade 1 or 2 liver function score. It is planned to include 50 patients in the study. All patients will be recruited in France. The study will be presented to eligible patients at participating centres and an information note will be provided. No advertising material is planned for this study. To be eligible, patients must meet all the following criteria to be ≥18 years old, with histologically proven Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), pre-treated or not with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor and Child-Pugh B cirrhosis, ALBI (Albumin-Bilirubin) grade 1 or 2 and BCLC (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Group) B or C and with no more than 50% liver invasion of tumour disease.
The primary objective is to assess efficacy of anti-PD1 (in terms of Objective Response Rate \[ORR\] based on Best Overall Response across all time-points as defined by RECIST v1.1) in the Child-Pugh B / ALBI grade 1/2 population. Secondary objectives are : * To assess safety of anti-PD-1 * To assess efficacy in terms of: * Objective Response Rate based on best overall response across all time-point according to mRECIST and iRECIST tumor response evaluation * Overall survival (OS) * Progression-free survival (PFS) * Time to progression (TTP) * To assess Quality of Life according to EORTC QLQ-C30 and HCC-18. In order to confirm the eligibility of patients, a clinical examination, biological blood tests, ECG, CT scan and a urine or blood pregnancy test for women of childbearing age will be performed. A quality of life questionnaire will be administered to patients. Patients will also be asked to agree to a full eye examination by an ophthalmologist prior to the start of treatment to determine that there is no risk of worsening the patient's visual acuity with treatment with tislelizumab. After enrolment in the study, the patient will be required to visit the hospital every 3 weeks to receive intravenous treatment for up to 2 years. Once the treatment is completed, the patient will be seen at follow-up visits for 2 years, initially every 3 months for the first year and then every 6 months for the second year. Assessment of tumour response by CT or MRI will be done after the start of treatment at weeks 9, 18, 27, 54 and every 12 weeks until disease progression and throughout the treatment period. Tumour assessment by CT or MRI will be performed 2 years after the start of treatment or upon disease progression. Patients will be asked to consent to the use of a collected tumour sample, as well as to the collection of blood samples, for future scientific research which includes, but is not limited to, the detection of DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers. An independent Study Monitoring Board (DSMB), with expertise and experience in the pathology, and without direct involvement in the conduct of the study, will be set up specifically to ensure optimal safety monitoring during the early phase of the study and the feasibility of at least 2 treatment injections (6 weeks from inclusion), an early stopping rule has been defined for the first 20 patients included. This method was chosen for the evaluation of serious adverse events (SAEs), which may occur relatively early in this trial. A high frequency of occurrence may necessitate early termination of the trial.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
50
Tislelizumab 200 mg will be administered every 3 weeks IV for a maximum of 2 years
CHU Angers
Angers, France
Hôpital Avicenne
Bobigny, France
CHU Beaujon
Clichy, France
Hôpital Michallon
Grenoble, France
CHU La Croix Rousse
Lyon, France
Hôpital Saint Joseph
Marseille, France
Institut Paoli Calmette
Marseille, France
CHU Saint Eloi
Montpellier, France
Centre Eugene Marquis
Rennes, France
CHRU Strasbourg
Strasbourg, France
Objective Response Rate
Objective response rate (ORR) is the percentage of patients with a best response during treatment being either complete response (CR) or partial response (PR).
Time frame: 48 months
Frequency of limiting toxicity
Frequency of limiting toxicity is defined as any adverse event related to the experimental drug, and leading to definitive treatment discontinuation according to the investigator, before the second injection. The National Cancer Institute-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5 (NCI-CTCAE v5) is widely accepted in the community of oncology research as the leading rating scale for adverse events. This scale, divided into 5 grades (1 = "mild", 2 = "moderate", 3 = "severe", 4 = "life-threatening", and 5 = "death") determined by the investigator, will make it possible to assess the severity of the disorders.
Time frame: From inclusion, up to 6 months
Frequency of related and not related adverse events
Frequency of all adverse events occurring during the treatment period and until 3 months after treatment discontinuation. The National Cancer Institute-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5 (NCI-CTCAE v5) is widely accepted in the community of oncology research as the leading rating scale for adverse events. This scale, divided into 5 grades (1 = "mild", 2 = "moderate", 3 = "severe", 4 = "life-threatening", and 5 = "death") determined by the investigator, will make it possible to assess the severity of the disorders.
Time frame: From inclusion, up to 48 months
Overall survival
The overall survival (OS) is the length of time from randomization that patients enrolled in the study are still alive.
Time frame: From inclusion to death from any cause, up to 52 months
Progression-free survival
The progression-free survival (PFS) is the length of time during and after the treatment of a disease that a patient lives with the disease but it does not get worse.
Time frame: From inclusion to disease progression or death, up to 52 months
Time to progression
Time to progression is the length of time patients leave without radiological disease progression.
Time frame: From inclusion to radiographic disease progression, up to 52 months
Quality of life questionnaire - Core 30 (QLQ-C30)
Developed by the EORTC, this self-reported questionnaire assesses the health-related quality of life of cancer patients in clinical trials. The questionnaire includes five functional scales (physical, everyday activity, cognitive, emotional, and social), three symptom scales (fatigue, pain, nausea and vomiting), a health/quality of life overall scale, and a number of additional elements assessing common symptoms (including dyspnea, loss of appetite, insomnia, constipation, and diarrhea), as well as, the perceived financial impact of the disease. All of the scales and single-item measures range in score from 0 to 100. A high scale score represents a higher response level.
Time frame: At baseline, every 6 week for 1 year, then every 4 months, up to 52 months
Quality of life questionnaire - Hepatocellular Carcinoma (QLQ-HCC-18)
This EORTC hepatocellular carcinoma specific questionnaire is intended to supplement the QLQ-C30. The QLQ-HCC18 contains 18 items to assess symptoms hepatocellular-related symptoms. These items are grouped into 6 domains: fatigue, body image, jaundice, nutrition, pain, and fever. Two single items address abdominal swelling and sex life. All items are rated on a four-point Likert-type scale (1 = "not at all", 2 = "a little", 3 = "quite a bit", and 4 = "very much"), and are linearly transformed to a 0-100 scale; a higher score represents a more severe symptom or problem.
Time frame: At baseline, every 6 week for 1 year, then every 4 months, up to 52 months
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