Fruquintinib After ICIs Treatment in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Nowadays, there are few second-line treatment options for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In order to further improve the efficacy of second-line treatment for advanced HCC, we plan to conduct a phase II clinical study to explore the efficacy and safety of the new second-line treatment for advanced HCC. As a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor -1/2/3 (VEGFR 1/2/3), fruquintinib had demonstrated a strong antitumor efficacy in colorectal cancer patients who had previously received standard chemotherapy. Compared with placebo, fuquinitinib significantly extended overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (median OS, 9.3 months vs 6.6 months; HR, 0.65; p\<0.001) and progression-free survival (median PFS, 3.7 months vs 1.8 months; HR, 0.26; p\<0.001). Additionally, a phase II clinical study had showed that sintilimab combined with fruquintinib was with a promising anti-tumor activity in patients with advanced HCC who had received standard treatment, with a median PFS of 7.4 months and a tumor response rate of 31.6%. Therefore, we intend to conduct this clinical study to explore the efficacy and safety of fruquintinib as second-line treatment for patients with unresectable HCC previously treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.