Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy combined with lenvatinib and programmed death receptor-1 inhibitors for hepatocellular carcinoma with Vp4 portal vein tumor thrombus: a multicenter, propensity score matching comparative study.

Background: Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with main/bilobar portal vein tumor thrombus (Vp4) have poor survival and are frequently excluded from clinical trials, leading to limited outcome data. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC), lenvatinib, and humanized programmed death receptor-1(PD-1) inhibitor in clinical HCC with Vp4.

Materials and methods: Advanced HCC cases with Vp4 who received either triple combination of HAIC, lenvatinib and PD-1 inhibitor (HAIC-LEN-PD1) or dual combination of lenvatinib and PD-1 inhibitor (LEN-PD1) were retrospectively analyzed. Efficacy endpoints included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR), with treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) evaluated for safety.

Results: From January 2020 to September 2024, 158 and 78 cases were included in the HAIC-LEN-PD1 and LEN-PD1 groups, respectively. After PSM (1:2), 66 patients in the HAIC-LEN-PD1 group were matched to 76 in the LEN-PD1 group. Median OS was 21.1 vs. 11.5 months (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.51, p = 0.003), and median PFS was 8.4 vs. 5.6 months (HR = 0.49, p < 0.001) in the HAIC-LEN-PD1 and LEN-PD1 groups, respectively. The triple combination exhibited higher ORR (60.6% vs. 28.9%, p < 0.001) and DCR (95.4% vs. 77.6%, p = 0.002) than the dual combination. The triple combination induced more adverse events compared with the dual combination, but most of them were tolerable and controllable.

Conclusion: The triple combination of HAIC, lenvatinib, and PD-1 inhibitor is an effective and safe therapeutic option for advanced HCC cases with Vp4.