The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio at the start of the second course during atezolizumab plus bevacizumab therapy predicts therapeutic efficacy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter analysis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) therapy is expected to have good therapeutic efficacy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the clinical indicators which predict therapeutic efficacy have not been established. We retrospectively investigated whether the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) during Atez/Bev therapy could predict therapeutic efficacy.

DESIGN: A total of 110 HCC patients were enrolled; they were treated with Atez/Bev therapy and evaluated for their initial response by dynamic CT or MRI at least once between October 2020 and July 2022.

RESULTS: Of the 110 HCC patients at the initial evaluation, 2 (2%) showed a complete response (CR), 22 (20%) a partial response (PR), 62 (56%) stable disease (SD), and 24 (21%) progressive disease (PD). The NLR at the start of the second course (NLR-2c) increased from CR+PR to SD to PD. There was no significant association between the baseline NLR and the initial therapeutic response. Patients with CR+PR had lower NLR-2c values than those with SD+PD (p <0.001) and the optimal cut-off value of NLR-2c was 1.97. Patients with NLR-2c <1.97 had better overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) than those with NLR-2c ≥1.97 (p =0.005 for OS; p <0.001 for PFS). A multivariate analysis showed that female sex, higher PIVKA-II levels at baseline, and higher values of NLR-2c were significantly associated with poorer PFS.

CONCLUSIONS: The NLR-2c value predicts the initial therapeutic response and prognosis of patients with HCC treated with Atez/Bev therapy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.