Combining VEGF and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: clinical trials, real-world evidence, and future directions.

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide with most of patients diagnosed at advanced stage. Thus, systemic therapy remains a cornerstone of treatment. In recent years, immunotherapy has changed therapeutic scenario, being investigated also in combination with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents. This approach has demonstrated safety and efficacy in several trials, paving the way for their investigation in earlier disease stages and in different settings.

Areas covered: A structured literature review was conducted using PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov to identify published evidence supporting safety and efficacy of anti-programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand-1(PD-1/PD-L1) and anti-VEGF agents in different therapeutic settings and identifying ongoing clinical trials and key research directions.

Expert opinion: Combination of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 and anti-VEGF agents has demonstrated safety and efficacy as a first-line treatment for advanced HCC, supported by results from phase 3 trials. These results suggest that further investigation is warranted to optimize first-line efficacy, second-line choice, and potential application in earlier disease stages. The clinical benefit of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 and anti-VEGF agents have also opened the door to a new clinical paradigm, where transitioning from systemic therapy to locoregional therapies, resection or even liver transplantation could be a feasible treatment strategy.