Study 22

Study 22 was a phase I/II trial evaluating different immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based regimens in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The study showed higher rates of objective response (ORR) with the STRIDE regimen (i.e., Single Tremelimumab Regular Interval Durvalumab) and with a combination of durvalumab and bevacizumab (D+B) compared to durvalumab or tremelimumab alone. At ASCO 2024, Dr Robin Kate Kelley from the University of California in San Francisco presented the results of a T-cell clone and gene-expression analysis of this study.

Both STRIDE and D+B proved to be immunomodulatory and induced an interferon-gamma response gene expression signature. Of these two regimens, STRIDE proved to induce a more pronounced change in the immune-related gene expression than D+B. Compared to durvalumab monotherapy, STRIDE elicited the expansion of more T-cells, while this was not the case for D+B.

Prof Dr Jeroen Dekervel concludes that while both STRIDE and D+B proved to be effective treatment options in this study, they seem to have a different mode of action. For Dr Kelley these findings provide a rationale for the further investigation of dual immune checkpoint inhibition in combination with anti-angiogenic agents in patients with HCC.