Treatment patterns and survival in patients with late-stage hepatocellular carcinoma in France: A retrospective database analysis.

Abstract

288 Background: The prognosis for patients with late-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poor, with only one systemic treatment option available for patients until 2017. Aim: To describe treatment patterns and survival of French patients following diagnosis of late-stage HCC (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification B, C or D), using a comprehensive nationwide claims database, SNDS. Methods: The SNDS database was searched from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017 for patients with a diagnosis of HCC (ICD-10: C220) and late-stage disease, defined by the identification of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) or radioembolization (TARE), HCC systemic therapy and/or best supportive care (BSC). Patients were followed up for a maximum of 2 years. Results: 17,298 patients (mean age: 68.7 years (SD: 11.3), 82.6% male) were identified, with 72.4% diagnosed at late stage. During follow-up, 29.6% of patients were treated with TACE or TARE, and 27.1% received systematic therapy (sorafenib in 99.5% of cases). The median duration of systemic treatment was 7.9 (95% CI: 7.4-8.5) months. In 62.5% of cases, this treatment was discontinued at 12 months; this proportion fell to 40.3% when using mortality as a competitive risk. Survival since diagnosis of late stage HCC differed according to the type of first treatment received. Median overall survival was 23.7, 11.9, 7.4 and 1 month in patients initially receiving TACE, TARE, systemic therapy or no treatment, respectively. Conclusions: These results confirm the high clinical burden of late-stage HCC over this period and the need for second-line systemic treatments to improve patient outcomes.