AstraZeneca (AZ) has announced that Imfinzi (durvalumab) in combination with Imjudo (tremelimumab) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to treat certain cases of liver cancer.
The health technology assessment agency has recommended in final draft guidance that the ‘STRIDE’ regimen (single tremelimumab regular interval durvalumab) be used on the NHS in England and Wales as a first-line treatment for adults with advanced or unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
This marks the first approval by NICE of a dual immunotherapy for liver cancer, AZ outlined.
Approximately 6,600 people are diagnosed with liver cancer every year in the UK, with HCC accounting for more than 75% of all primary liver cancers cases. Around 70% of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, at which point treatment options are limited and prognosis is poor.
NICE’s decision on STRIDE was supported by results from the late-stage HIMALAYA study, in which AZ’s regimen was associated with a statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared to the previous standard-of-care treatment, sorafenib, a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor.
Median overall survival for STRIDE was 16.4 months versus 13.8 months for sorafenib, while 49% and 31% of STRIDE-treated patients were alive at 18 and 36 months, respectively, compared to 42% and 20% for sorafenib.
Tom Keith Roach, president of AstraZeneca UK, said: “This is a positive step forward for people with advanced liver cancer and the first time this kind of immunotherapy combination will be available for these patients, showing a significant improvement in the number of patients living for five years or longer.”
Also welcoming the recommendation, Vanessa Hebditch, director of policy and communications at the British Liver Trust, said: “Liver cancer incidence is rising rapidly, and patients often face limited treatment choices… This decision by NICE brings an important new treatment option to patients with advanced liver cancer.”
The announcement comes just three months after AZ’s AKT inhibitor Truqap (capivasertib) was recommended by NICE as part of a combination treatment for advanced breast cancer.
The company also received two separate recommendations from the agency in January for the use Imfinzi and Tagrisso (osimertinib) in lung cancer.