Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma extrahepatic metastases can benefit from hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy combined with lenvatinib plus programmed Death-1 inhibitors

Background: Lenvatinib plus Programmed Death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors (LEN-P) have been recommended in China for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, they provide limited survival benefits to patients with extrahepatic metastases. We aimed to investigate whether combining hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) with LEN-P could improve its efficacy. Materials and Methods: This multi-center cohort study included patients with HCC extrahepatic metastases who received HAIC combined with LEN-P (HAIC-LEN-P group, n=127) or LEN-P alone (n=103) as the primary systemic treatment between January 2019 and December 2022. Baseline data were balanced using a one-to-one propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). Results: After PSM, the HAIC-LEN-P group significantly extended the median overall survival (mOS) and median progression-free survival (mPFS), compared with the LEN-P group (mOS: 27.0 months vs. 9.0 months, P 0.05). Conclusion: HAIC can improve the efficacy of LEN-P in patients with HCC extrahepatic metastases and may be an alternative treatment for advanced HCC management.