Efficacy and safety of sequential therapy with sorafenib and regorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a two-center study in China

Background: Regorafenib is a standard 2nd-line treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the efficacy and safety of sequential therapy with sorafenib and regorafenib among advanced HCC patients in China is not clear. Methods: This was a retrospective, two-center, cohort study of advanced HCC patients who received sequential therapy of sorafenib and regorafenib from October 2018 to April 2020 at 2 Chinese institutions. The patients were converted directly to regorafenib after failing to respond to sorafenib monotherapy. The patients underwent evaluations every 4-6 weeks to determine the efficacy and safety of the treatment according to physiological, laboratory, and radiological results. A radiological evaluation using computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans was conducted. The outcomes included overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: A total of 43 patients received regorafenib as a 2nd-line treatment after sorafenib progression. Of these patients, 26 (60.5%) and 17 (39.5%) were diagnosed with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages B and C, respectively. The median PFS was 11.0 [95% confidence interval (CI): 5.8-16.2] months, and the median OS was 17.0 (95% CI: 12.8-21.2) months. Conversely, the most common toxicities were hand-foot skin reaction (48.8%), diarrhea (32.6%), and hypertension (14%). The most common grade 3-4 toxicities were hypoalbuminemia (4.7%), anemia (4.7%), and thrombocytopenia (4.7%). Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) >_400, alanine transaminase (ALT) >_60 IU/L, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) >_60 IU/L before 2nd-line treatment were associated with PFS in the univariable analyses. The Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis showed that AFP [hazard ratio (HR) =0.225; 95% CI: 0.073-0.688; P=0.009], ALT (HR =0.195; 95% CI: 0.051-0.741; P=0.016), AST (HR =0.209; 95% CI: 0.063-0.697; P=0.011), and presence of extrahepatic metastasis (HR =0.074; 95% CI: 0.009-0.608; P=0.015) before 2nd-line treatment were independently associated with PFS.