Real-World Treatment Patterns and Health-Resource Utilization in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Following Failure of Sorafenib: A Retrospective Chart Review of 127 Patients in South Korea.

Abstract

BackgroundEuropean, US, Asian and Korean treatment guidelines all recommend sorafenib as first-line systemic therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, due to the emergence of several new treatments, post-sorafenib treatment patterns in real-world clinical practice are less well understood.ObjectiveThis study aimed to characterize current treatment patterns and healthcare resource utilization (HRU) in patients with HCC following the failure of first-line sorafenib in a real-world setting in Korea.Patients and methodsA chart review was conducted in 127 HCC patients who received systemic therapy or best supportive care following failure of first-line systemic treatment with sorafenib (2016–2018). Anonymized data on patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and survival were abstracted by 37 physicians in Korea.ResultsThe mean (range) age of patients was 60 (37–79) years; 63 patients had low alpha-fetoprotein (AFP < 400 ng/mL), 64 patients had high alpha-fetoprotein (AFP ≥ 400 ng/mL). Post-sorafenib, 64 (50%) patients had systemic therapy. Regorafenib, used by 54 (84%) patients in second-line, and nivolumab monotherapy, by ten (56%) patients in third-line, were the most common therapies. Hepatologist visits and hospitalizations, at an average rate of 6.89 (95% CI 6.37–7.45) and 2.24 (95% CI 1.95–2.57) per patient-year, respectively, were the key contributors of HRU. The median overall survival (95% CI) from discontinuation of sorafenib was 13.0 (9.8–20.7), 6.5 (5.0–9.5) and 9.5 (6.7–12.3) months in the low AFP, high AFP and overall group, respectively.ConclusionThis real-world evidence research on treatment patterns reflected current clinical guidelines and highlighted fast progressing nature and continuing high mortality in HCC, especially among the high AFP group, underlying a need for new treatments that can lengthen survival. Results from this real-world chart review, together with existing clinical trial data, can inform future evaluations of new HCC treatments that estimate their health economic impact in Korea.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40801-021-00286-z.