Long-term remission of advanced liver cancer in 46% of patients achieved with combination therapy

Medical Xpress / The University of Hong Kong / JAMA Oncology ^ | May 25, 2025 | Chi Leung Chiang et al

[ConservativeMind]

An interdisciplinary research team has demonstrated a durable and lasting response to a novel treatment—combined locoregional therapy and immunotherapy (LRT-IO)—for advanced liver cancer patients.

Advanced liver cancer is often considered incurable, but it can sometimes be converted to a treatable stage through a combination of therapies, potentially leading to curative surgery.

This innovative strategy consists of three treatments: stereotactic beam radiotherapy (SBRT) with optional transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), followed by immunotherapy (IO).

In previous studies, the team found that the cancer completely disappeared in 42% of patients after treatment, as evidenced by MRI or CT scans—even without curative surgery.

The research team closely monitored 63 patients with locally advanced unresectable liver cancer who had been treated with the LRT-IO approach. The patients, with a median tumor size of 10cm, were followed up regularly for a median duration of almost three years. During this period, 29 patients (46%) achieved a complete response, and two-thirds of them remained cancer-free at the time of data cutoff.

Remarkably, the patients with a complete response were over twice as likely to be alive after three years than those without (three-year overall survival rate of 76% vs. 28%). The overall survival rate for patients with a complete response was comparable to that of patients who underwent curative surgery.

While approximately one-third of the patients experienced a recurrence of their cancer, 60% of these patients were eligible for curative surgery as a primary treatment option. These findings clearly indicated that achieving a complete response significantly improves long-term outcomes for patients with advanced liver cancer.

"Our study provides long-term data that confirms our previous findings: the LRT-IO approach is a potentially curative treatment for large, unresectable liver cancer, with a 46% complete response rate, and a 75% survival among patients who achieved a complete response," explained Dr. Chiang.

[ConservativeMind]

Advanced liver cancer now appears to have a solid chance of being cured.

[ConservativeMind]

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[GranTorino]

Always a treatment.
Never a cure.

[Vermont Lt]

Alive vs Dead. I think most folks would take “alive.”

[barryselby]

bttt

[sauropod]

bkmk

[telescope115]

This sounds like a big deal. I guess the cancer has to be caught before it spreads outside the liver for this to be an a realistic, effective treatment.

[Jane Long]

Always a treatment.
Never a cure.