Real-world second-line treatment pattern for unresectable or advanced hepatic carcinoma in China: a retrospective...

In recent years, the emerging new drugs in the Chinese market diversified the choice of systemic treatment, especially second-line (2L), for unresectable or advanced hepatic carcinoma (HC) patients, and their inclusion into the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) further changed the clinical practice. The objective of this study was to describe the 2L treatment pattern among Chinese unresectable or advanced HC patients in a real-world setting.

All adult unresectable or advanced HC patients receiving 2L treatment were retrospectively identified from Tianjin Healthcare and Medical Big Data Platform, a regional electronic health record database in Tianjin, China. Patients were observed between 2018 and 2021. A descriptive analysis was conducted for study outcomes for the overall cohort and by subgroups before and after NRDL 2020 version implementation.

A total of 123 patients were eligible for study inclusion. Targeted therapy (n=93, 75.6%) was the most commonly used 2L treatment category and regorafenib monotherapy (n=71, 57.7%) was the most common treatment type. Among patients receiving regorafenib as 2L treatment, sorafenib was the most commonly used first-line treatment. The percentage of patients using 2L treatments recommended by 2020 China Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) guideline changed from 87.2% to 59.2% after NRDL 2020 version implementation. The average daily doses of targeted therapies were generally lower than the labeling doses, while those of immune therapies were close to labeling doses. There was a trend towards increased treatment duration and reduced direct medical cost after NRDL 2020 version implementation.

Targeted therapy, especially regorafenib, was the most common 2L treatment for unresectable or advanced HC in China. Future study is necessary to evaluate their effectiveness and safety as 2L treatment for unresectable or advanced HC patients in China.