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Watch and Wait Versus Surgical Treatment for Clinical Complete Responders After Non-Curative Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (WATCH)

Primary Purpose

Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Status
Recruiting
Phase
Not Applicable
Locations
China
Study Type
Interventional
Intervention
Liver Resection
Sponsored by
Sun Yat-sen University
About
Eligibility
Locations
Arms
Outcomes
Full info

About this trial

This is an interventional treatment trial for Hepatocellular Carcinoma focused on measuring Conversion Reaction

Eligibility Criteria

18 Years - undefined (Adult, Older Adult)All SexesDoes not accept healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥18 years old.
  • Patients with clinical diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma without extrahepatic metastasis, and two liver surgeons evaluated as unresectable.
  • AFP≥400ug/L before initial treatment.
  • Initial treatment is hepatic arterial intervention (chemoembolization/infusion chemotherapy), combined targeted therapy (sorafenib, lenvatinib, donafenib, apatinib, bevacizumab) and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (PD-1\PD-L1).
  • After transarterial infusion chemotherapy combined with targeted and immunotherapy treatment, the tumor evaluation is clinical complete response, that is, the following two criteria are met: 1. Two consecutive imaging assessments (one month apart) tumor complete response (CR, mRECIST) standard) 2. Two consecutive tumor markers (one month apart) AFP ≤ the upper limit of the normal value
  • The patients with clinical complete response were evaluated by two liver surgeons as resectable.
  • Normal hematological function (platelets>75×109/L; leukocytes>3.0×109/L; neutrophils>1.5×109/L)
  • Serum bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN), transaminases ≤ 3 times ULN
  • No ascites, normal coagulation function, albumin≥30g/L
  • Child-Pugh class A
  • Serum creatinine less than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN)
  • ECOG score 0-1
  • Life expectancy > 3 months

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Received other tumor treatments other than hepatic artery interventional therapy, targeted and immunotherapy
  • Any of the following conditions within the first 12 months of the study: myocardial infarction, severe/unstable angina, coronary artery bypass grafting, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular accident (including transient ischemic attack), Pulmonary embolism; ongoing: arrhythmia of grade ≥2 by NCI-CTCAE criteria, QTc prolongation (>450 ms in men, >470 ms in women);
  • Renal insufficiency requires peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis;
  • Serious dysfunction of other important organs;
  • A second primary malignant tumor was diagnosed in the past;
  • Known or new evidence of brain or leptomeningeal lesions; Hemophilia or bleeding tendency, taking anticoagulation therapy such as coumarin derivatives in therapeutic doses;
  • Pregnant or lactating women, all female patients of childbearing potential must undergo a pregnancy test (serum or urine) within 7 days before enrollment, and the result is negative;
  • History of previous organ transplantation;
  • Known HIV infection;
  • Allergy to chemotherapy drugs;
  • Patients with other serious acute or chronic physical or psychiatric diseases or abnormal laboratory tests that may increase the risk associated with participating in the study, or may interfere with the interpretation of the study results or the investigators consider unsuitable for enrollment.

Sites / Locations

  • Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer CenterRecruiting

Arms of the Study

Arm 1

Arm 2

Arm Type

Experimental

No Intervention

Arm Label

Resection group

Non-surgical resection group

Arm Description

Surgical resection group: The patients underwent liver cancer resection and were followed up regularly after surgery.

Stop hepatic artery interventional therapy (chemoembolization/infusion chemotherapy), continue the original targeted and immunotherapy for no more than 1 year

Outcomes

Primary Outcome Measures

Progression-free survival
assessed using mRECIST criteria, defined as the survival rate of patients without tumor progression from randomization to the end.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Time to treatment failure
Defined as the time from randomization to the first documented treatment failure (ie, local recurrence or progression or death from any cause).
Overall survival
defined as the time from randomization to death from any cause.
pCR rate in surgery group
Pathological complete response (pCR) was defined as the absence of residual viable tumor cells on hematoxylin and eosin staining on completely resected tumor specimen sections.

Full Information

First Posted
April 22, 2022
Last Updated
April 12, 2023
Sponsor
Sun Yat-sen University
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1. Study Identification

Unique Protocol Identification Number
NCT05349331
Brief Title
Watch and Wait Versus Surgical Treatment for Clinical Complete Responders After Non-Curative Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Acronym
WATCH
Official Title
Watch and Wait Versus Surgical Treatment for Clinical Complete Responders After Non-Curative Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Phase II Randomized Clinical Trial
Study Type
Interventional

2. Study Status

Record Verification Date
April 2023
Overall Recruitment Status
Recruiting
Study Start Date
May 5, 2022 (Actual)
Primary Completion Date
December 31, 2023 (Anticipated)
Study Completion Date
December 31, 2024 (Anticipated)

3. Sponsor/Collaborators

Responsible Party, by Official Title
Principal Investigator
Name of the Sponsor
Sun Yat-sen University

4. Oversight

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product
No
Data Monitoring Committee
No

5. Study Description

Brief Summary
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for more than 90% of primary liver cancers and is the sixth most common cancer in the world and ranked third in mortality. Most patients with HCC are diagnosed at an advanced stage and miss the opportunity for radical surgical resection, therefore, most patients receive mainly non-curative local and systemic treatments. Anti-angiogenic drugs with immunotherapy for unresectable HCC has achieved an objective response rate of about 30%. In addition, transarterial hepatic artery chemoembolization and hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy have further increased the objective response rate and depth of tumor regression. For patients with initially unresectable HCC, conversion therapy can result tumor shrinkage and downstaging, ultimately allowing patients the opportunity to undergo resection. However, it raise the question of whether surgical resection of the tumor is still necessary after achieving clinical complete response? On the one hand, some researchers believe that as long as resection is feasible, the tumor must be completely removed. Viable tumor cells may still remain and become a source of tumor recurrence. On the other hand, some researchers believe that patients who achieve clinical complete response after conversion therapy can consider a non-surgical watch and wait strategy. Whether the inactive lesions with clinical complete response still require surgical resection is still inconclusive. This study compared the efficacy and safety of surgical resection versus non-surgical resection in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients who achieved clinical complete response after hepatic arterial intervention (chemoembolization/infusion chemotherapy) combined with targeted and immunosuppressive therapy. It is expected to provide reliable clinical evidence support for guiding the treatment of such patients.

6. Conditions and Keywords

Primary Disease or Condition Being Studied in the Trial, or the Focus of the Study
Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Keywords
Conversion Reaction

7. Study Design

Primary Purpose
Treatment
Study Phase
Not Applicable
Interventional Study Model
Parallel Assignment
Masking
None (Open Label)
Allocation
Randomized
Enrollment
60 (Anticipated)

8. Arms, Groups, and Interventions

Arm Title
Resection group
Arm Type
Experimental
Arm Description
Surgical resection group: The patients underwent liver cancer resection and were followed up regularly after surgery.
Arm Title
Non-surgical resection group
Arm Type
No Intervention
Arm Description
Stop hepatic artery interventional therapy (chemoembolization/infusion chemotherapy), continue the original targeted and immunotherapy for no more than 1 year
Intervention Type
Procedure
Intervention Name(s)
Liver Resection
Intervention Description
Surgical resection treatment: laparoscopic or open liver resection is performed, and targeted and immunotherapy are not continued after surgery.
Primary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Progression-free survival
Description
assessed using mRECIST criteria, defined as the survival rate of patients without tumor progression from randomization to the end.
Time Frame
24 months
Secondary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Time to treatment failure
Description
Defined as the time from randomization to the first documented treatment failure (ie, local recurrence or progression or death from any cause).
Time Frame
24 months
Title
Overall survival
Description
defined as the time from randomization to death from any cause.
Time Frame
24 months
Title
pCR rate in surgery group
Description
Pathological complete response (pCR) was defined as the absence of residual viable tumor cells on hematoxylin and eosin staining on completely resected tumor specimen sections.
Time Frame
24 months
Other Pre-specified Outcome Measures:
Title
Correlation of serum tumor molecular marker with survival
Description
Correlation of serum tumor molecular marker methylation level with pCR in surgery group and tumor progression in non-surgery group.
Time Frame
24 months

10. Eligibility

Sex
All
Minimum Age & Unit of Time
18 Years
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: Age ≥18 years old. Patients with clinical diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma without extrahepatic metastasis, and two liver surgeons evaluated as unresectable. AFP≥400ug/L or PIVKA-II≥1000mAU/mL before initial treatment. Initial treatment is hepatic arterial intervention (chemoembolization/infusion chemotherapy), combined targeted therapy (sorafenib, lenvatinib, donafenib, apatinib, bevacizumab) and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (PD-1\PD-L1). After transarterial infusion chemotherapy combined with targeted and immunotherapy treatment, the tumor evaluation is clinical complete response, that is, the following two criteria are met: 1. Two consecutive imaging assessments (one month apart) tumor complete response (CR, mRECIST) standard) 2. Two consecutive tumor markers (one month apart) AFP and PIVKA-II ≤ the upper limit of the normal value The patients with clinical complete response were evaluated by two liver surgeons as resectable. Normal hematological function (platelets>75×109/L; leukocytes>3.0×109/L; neutrophils>1.5×109/L) Serum bilirubin ≤ 1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN), transaminases ≤ 3 times ULN No ascites, normal coagulation function, albumin≥30g/L Child-Pugh class A Serum creatinine less than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) ECOG score 0-1 Life expectancy > 3 months Exclusion Criteria: Received other tumor treatments other than hepatic artery interventional therapy, targeted and immunotherapy Any of the following conditions within the first 12 months of the study: myocardial infarction, severe/unstable angina, coronary artery bypass grafting, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular accident (including transient ischemic attack), Pulmonary embolism; ongoing: arrhythmia of grade ≥2 by NCI-CTCAE criteria, QTc prolongation (>450 ms in men, >470 ms in women); Renal insufficiency requires peritoneal dialysis or hemodialysis; Serious dysfunction of other important organs; A second primary malignant tumor was diagnosed in the past; Known or new evidence of brain or leptomeningeal lesions; Hemophilia or bleeding tendency, taking anticoagulation therapy such as coumarin derivatives in therapeutic doses; Pregnant or lactating women, all female patients of childbearing potential must undergo a pregnancy test (serum or urine) within 7 days before enrollment, and the result is negative; History of previous organ transplantation; Known HIV infection; Allergy to chemotherapy drugs; Patients with other serious acute or chronic physical or psychiatric diseases or abnormal laboratory tests that may increase the risk associated with participating in the study, or may interfere with the interpretation of the study results or the investigators consider unsuitable for enrollment.
Central Contact Person:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name or Official Title & Degree
Wei He
Phone
15521248313
Email
hewei@sysucc.org.cn
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name or Official Title & Degree
Binkui Li
Phone
02087343951
Email
libk@sysucc.org.cn
Facility Information:
Facility Name
Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center
City
Guangzhou
State/Province
Guangdong
ZIP/Postal Code
510000
Country
China
Individual Site Status
Recruiting
Facility Contact:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name & Degree
Wei He
Phone
15521248313
Email
hewei@sysucc.org.cn
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name & Degree
Binkui Li

12. IPD Sharing Statement

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Watch and Wait Versus Surgical Treatment for Clinical Complete Responders After Non-Curative Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

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