Liver Cancer and Immunotherapy in the Liquid Biopsy Era

Hepatocellular Carcinoma Clinical Trial

— LILIPSY  

Official title:

Liver Cancer and Immunotherapy : Clinical Relevance of LIquid BioPSY

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05810402
• Other study ID #: RECHMPL22_0514
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: May 2023
• Est. completion date: May 2027

Study information

• Verified date: March 2023
• Source: University Hospital, Montpellier
• Contact: Thomas Bardol, M.D.
• Phone: +33682882757
• Email: t-bardol[@]chu-montpellier.fr
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this prospective clinical trial is to identify a predictive biomarker in patients with advanced HCC (stage B and C) using a combinatorial approach of the liquid biopsy.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Is multi-omic liquid biopsy approach able to identify a strong predictive biomarker of immunotherapy efficiency?

• Is there a correlation between tissue biopsy (PD-L1 tissue level of expression) and liquid biopsy (detection of CTC expressing PD-L1) in HCC patients?

Participants blood will be collected at several time points.

Description:

In solid cancers, some more aggressive tumor cells actively detach from the primary lesion and then travel through the circulating compartment to reach distant organs and form micro-metastases. Detecting CTCs in the blood is also relevant for assessing tumor progression, prognosis and therapeutic follow-up. The non-invasive, highly sensitive for CTCs analysis is called "liquid biopsy". Over the past few years, a multi-analyses approach (CTCs, circulating tumor DNA, extracellular vesicles, miRNA...) of liquid biopsy has been developed.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the predominant pathological type of primary liver cancer. It represents the sixth most common incidence worldwide and the third most common cause of cancer mortality.

Since 2021, the gold standard treatment for patients with advanced and/or unresectable HCC is the combination of atezolizumab (anti-PD-L1) and bevacizumab (VEGF inhibitor) in cases where chemoembolization is not indicated (patients with lymph node invasion and/or distant lesions or patients with portal flow abnormality). Indeed, this therapy offers a significant benefit in overall survival (19.2 vs 13.4 months, HR 0.66, p<0.0009) as well as in progression-free survival (6.9 vs 4.3 months, HR 0.65, p=0.0001). However, to date, there is no predictive biomarker for the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI)

The purpose of this research project is to identify a predictive biomarker in patients with advanced HCC (stage B and C) using a combinatorial approach of the liquid biopsy (CTC, CTC expressing PD-L1, immune cell profiling).

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 60
• Est. completion date: May 2027
• Est. primary completion date: December 2026
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients of at least 18 years old,

• Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC with indication for first-line PD-1 or PD-L1 immunotherapy in MDT, without prior systemic therapy,

• The diagnosis of HCC is established according to imaging criteria (LI-RADSv2018 criteria) or after histological evidence,

• Advanced HCC defined by BCLC stages B and C,

• Patients with oral consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Administration of a previous systemic anti-tumor treatment (immunotherapy or chemotherapy or targeted therapy)

• No personal history of neoplasia in the previous 5 years

• No personal history of systemic inflammatory diseases

• No immunosuppressive treatment or treatment that could modify immunity (anti-TNF...)

• No affiliation or non-beneficiary of a Social Security system;

• Vulnerable persons according to article L1121-6 of the CSP ;

• Persons of full age who are protected or unable to give their consent according to article L1121-8 of the CSP;

• Pregnant or breastfeeding women according to article L1121-5 of the CSP.

• Non-inclusion due to follow-up difficulties (transfer, insufficient motivation, poor compliance, priority associated pathology in care, etc.)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• BCLC Stage B Hepatocellular Carcinoma
• BCLC Stage C Hepatocellular Carcinoma
• Carcinoma
• Carcinoma, Hepatocellular
• Hepatocellular Carcinoma
• Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor
• Liquid Biopsy
• Liver Neoplasms

Intervention

Biological:
• Liquid Biopsy
30mL blood sample: 1 x 10mL CellSave tube specifically designed for the collection and preservation of CTCs for CellSearch® analysis 1 EDTA tube for PBMCs isolation and circulating immune cells study (5mL), 2 EDTA tubes and 1 dry tube (15mL) for the preparation of the biobank (serum, plasma and cell).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University Hospital, Montpellier

References & Publications (25)

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Blanc JF, Debaillon-Vesque A, Roth G, Barbare JC, Baumann AS, Boige V, Boudjema K, Bouattour M, Crehange G, Dauvois B, Decaens T, Dewaele F, Farges O, Guiu B, Hollebecque A, Merle P, Selves J, Aparicio T, Ruiz I, Bouche O; Thesaurus National de Cancerologie Digestive (TNCD); Societe Nationale Francaise de Gastroenterologie (SNFGE); Federation Francophone de Cancerologie Digestive (FFCD); Groupe Cooperateur multidisciplinaire en Oncologie (GERCOR); Federation Nationale des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer (UNICANCER); Societe Francaise de Chirurgie Digestive (SFCD); Societe Francaise d'Endoscopie Digestive (SFED); Societe Francaise de Radiotherapie Oncologique (SFRO); Association Francaise pour l'Etude du Foie (AFEF). Hepatocellular carcinoma: French Intergroup Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up (SNFGE, FFCD, GERCOR, UNICANCER, SFCD, SFED, SFRO, AFEF, SIAD, SFR/FRI). Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol. 2021 Mar;45(2):101590. doi: 10.1016/j.clinre.2020.101590. Epub 2021 Mar 26. — View Citation

Chernyak V, Fowler KJ, Kamaya A, Kielar AZ, Elsayes KM, Bashir MR, Kono Y, Do RK, Mitchell DG, Singal AG, Tang A, Sirlin CB. Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) Version 2018: Imaging of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in At-Risk Patients. Radiology. 2018 Dec;289(3):816-830. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2018181494. Epub 2018 Sep 25. — View Citation

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Eslami-S Z, Cortes-Hernandez LE, Alix-Panabieres C. The Metastatic Cascade as the Basis for Liquid Biopsy Development. Front Oncol. 2020 Jul 21;10:1055. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.01055. eCollection 2020. — View Citation

European Association For The Study Of The Liver; European Organisation For Research And Treatment Of Cancer. EASL-EORTC clinical practice guidelines: management of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatol. 2012 Apr;56(4):908-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2011.12.001. No abstract available. Erratum In: J Hepatol. 2012 Jun;56(6):1430. — View Citation

Hack SP, Spahn J, Chen M, Cheng AL, Kaseb A, Kudo M, Lee HC, Yopp A, Chow P, Qin S. IMbrave 050: a Phase III trial of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab in high-risk hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection or ablation. Future Oncol. 2020 May;16(15):975-989. doi: 10.2217/fon-2020-0162. Epub 2020 Apr 30. Erratum In: Future Oncol. 2020 Oct;16(29):2371. — View Citation

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Mazel M, Jacot W, Pantel K, Bartkowiak K, Topart D, Cayrefourcq L, Rossille D, Maudelonde T, Fest T, Alix-Panabieres C. Frequent expression of PD-L1 on circulating breast cancer cells. Mol Oncol. 2015 Nov;9(9):1773-82. doi: 10.1016/j.molonc.2015.05.009. Epub 2015 Jun 9. — View Citation

Mego M, Gao H, Cohen EN, Anfossi S, Giordano A, Sanda T, Fouad TM, De Giorgi U, Giuliano M, Woodward WA, Alvarez RH, Valero V, Ueno NT, Hortobagyi GN, Cristofanilli M, Reuben JM. Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) Are Associated with Defects in Adaptive Immunity in Patients with Inflammatory Breast Cancer. J Cancer. 2016 Jun 3;7(9):1095-104. doi: 10.7150/jca.13098. eCollection 2016. — View Citation

Meng S, Tripathy D, Frenkel EP, Shete S, Naftalis EZ, Huth JF, Beitsch PD, Leitch M, Hoover S, Euhus D, Haley B, Morrison L, Fleming TP, Herlyn D, Terstappen LW, Fehm T, Tucker TF, Lane N, Wang J, Uhr JW. Circulating tumor cells in patients with breast cancer dormancy. Clin Cancer Res. 2004 Dec 15;10(24):8152-62. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-04-1110. — View Citation

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* Note: There are 25 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Percentage of patients with CTCs-PD-L1+ by CellSearch® technique	A CTC is being defined as: EpCAM(+)/PanCK(+)/Dapi(+)/CD45(-). The PD-L1 status will be observed only on these cells. CTC-PD-L1- = 0 vs CTC-PD-L1+ =1	At inclusion
Secondary	Number of CTCs-PD-L1+ measured by CellSearch® technique	0 vs. 1 vs. 2-3 vs. 4 vs. =5	At inclusion
Secondary	Presence of CTCs at inclusion by CellSearch® technique	Percentage of patients with CTCs	At inclusion
Secondary	Number of CTCs measured by CellSearch® technique	0 vs 1 vs 2-3 vs 4 vs =5	At inclusion
Secondary	Immune profiling	FACS study of immune system cells (T cells, NK cells, B cells, macrophages, immune-checkpoint and platelets)	24 month follow up
Secondary	Expression of PD-L1 by immuno-histochemical analysis of tissue samples	PD-L1 expression on biopsy or surgical specimen previously preserved in the Montpellier University Hospital tumor library	At inclusion
Secondary	Tumor control defined by mRECIST criteria	Best response: complete response + partial response + stable vs progression	24 month follow up
Secondary	Tumor control defined by RECIST criteria	Best response: complete response + partial response + stable vs progression	24 month follow up
Secondary	Overall Survival	Time from immunotherapy start date to date of death from any cause	24 month follow-up
Secondary	Progression Free Survival	Time from immunotherapy start date to date of first progression or date of death from any cause	24 month follow-up