Zhang R, Liu YH, Li Y, Li NN, Li Z. Present and prospect of transarterial chemoembolization combined with tyrosine kinase inhibitor and PD-1 inhibitor for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2024; 16(11): 4315-4320 [PMID: PMC11551641 DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i11.4315]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Zheng Li, PhD, Pharmacist, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, No. 101 Shanghai Road, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China. lizhengcpu@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Nov 15, 2024; 16(11): 4315-4320 Published online Nov 15, 2024. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i11.4315
Present and prospect of transarterial chemoembolization combined with tyrosine kinase inhibitor and PD-1 inhibitor for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
Rui Zhang, Yan-Hui Liu, Yu Li, Nan-Nan Li, Zheng Li
Rui Zhang, Department of Pharmacy, The Second People’s Hospital of Hefei, Hefei Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230011, Anhui Province, China
Yan-Hui Liu, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Anhui Provincial Children’s Hospital, Hefei 230000, Anhui Province, China
Yu Li, Department of Pharmacy, Taihe County People’s Hospital of Anhui Province, Fuyang 236600, Anhui Province, China
Nan-Nan Li, University of Science and Technology of China, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, Anhui Province, China
Zheng Li, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang R was responsible for acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, and final approval; Liu YH, Li Y, Li NN, were responsible for analysis and interpretation of data, and final approval; Li Z was responsible for conception and design of the study, critical revision, and final approval.
Supported byThe National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82104525; and The Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China, No. 21KJB360009.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zheng Li, PhD, Pharmacist, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Cardiovascular Drugs Targeting Endothelial Cells, College of Health Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, No. 101 Shanghai Road, Xuzhou 221000, Jiangsu Province, China. lizhengcpu@163.com
Received: March 18, 2024 Revised: July 1, 2024 Accepted: July 9, 2024 Published online: November 15, 2024 Processing time: 220 Days and 20.1 Hours
Abstract
In this editorial, we comment on the article (World J Gastrointest Oncol 2024; 16: 1236-1247), which is a retrospective study of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitor for the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Herein, we focus specifically on the mechanisms of this triple therapy, administration sequence and selection of each medication, and implications for future clinical trials. Based on the interaction mechanisms between medications, the triple therapy of TACE + TKI + PD-1 is proposed to complement the deficiency of each monotherapy, and achieve synergistic antitumor effects. Although this triple therapy has been evaluated by several retrospective trials, it is still controversial whether the triple therapy achieves better clinical benefits, due to the flawed study design and heterogeneity in medications. In addition, the administration sequence, which may greatly affect the clinical benefit, needs to be fully considered at clinical decision-making for obtaining better prognosis. We hope that this editorial could contribute to the design and optimization of future trials.
Core Tip: This editorial focuses on the mechanisms for combining transarterial chemoembolization with multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor and programmed cell death protein-1 inhibitor for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, administration sequence and selection of each medication, and implications for future clinical trials. Despite several retrospective trials have evaluated the efficacy and safety of this triple therapy, the flawed study design and heterogeneity in medications still arise controversial concerns on the results. Especially, the administration sequence between each medication varied across trials, which could greatly affect the clinical benefit. So, the administration sequence needs to be fully considered in future trials based on the interaction mechanisms between each medication.
