Background: Our aim is to evaluate the utility of liver function measured by modified albumin-bilirubin (mALBI) grade to predict eligibility for second-line therapies, including regorafenib and ramucirumab therapy, at initiation of sorafenib therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Methods: Participants in this retrospective, single-center study comprised 197 patients with sorafenib-treated HCC, Child-Pugh scores (CPs) 5-7 and performance status 0-1 treated between October 2009 and June 2019. The factors at initiation of sorafenib therapy, including mALBI grade and CPs, were analyzed with regard to second-line eligibility, regorafenib eligibility and ramucirumab eligibility, respectively.
Results: Proportions of eligibility for second-line therapies, regorafenib therapy and ramucirumab therapy were 48.7%, 35.5% and 18.3%. Modified ALBI grades 1 and 2a were contributing factors for second-line eligibility (odd ratios [OR] 16.7 and 5.6; 95% CI 6.5-43.3 and 2.6-12.2), regorafenib therapy (OR 13.9 and 6.9; 95% CI 5.6-34.4 and 2.9-16.2), and ramucirumab therapy (OR 9.5 and 4.8; 95% CI 2.9-30.8 and 1.6-14.4), with grade 2b defined as reference. Patients with mALBI grade 1 and CPs 5 exhibited especially high proportion of eligibility for regorafenib therapy (70.5%). In patients with mALBI grade 2b, those with CPs 5 displayed higher proportion of eligibility for second-line therapy and ramucirumab therapy (100% and 50%) than those with CPs 6 (31.8% and 11.4%).
Conclusions: Modified ALBI grade in combination with CPs at the initiation of sorafenib therapy would be useful to predict eligibility for second-line therapies.
Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Modified albumin–bilirubin grade; Ramucirumab; Regorafenib; Second-line therapy; Sorafenib.