Study of TAC-101 as Second Line Treatment in Patients With Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Who Received Sorafenib as First Line Therapy

Advanced metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not treatable by surgical approaches or locoregional therapies such as hepatic artery hemoembolization or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) which are effective in controlling localized tumors. Currently marketed systemic chemotherapy agents, with the exception of sorafenib, provide marginal benefit. Despite the demonstrated survival benefit from sorafenib, it is still imperative to improve to the effectiveness of systemic therapy in this patient population. Studies of TAC-101, a synthetic retinoid, indicate that although TAC-101 may not induce tumor regression, it appears to have a stabilizing effect, prolonging survival over what was expected historically. This Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled international, multicenter study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TAC 101 as second line treatment in patients with advanced HCC following treatment with sorafenib as first-line therapy. Sorafenib has recently been approved as first line treatment for HCC in the EU and the US and is expected to become the standard of care for the first-line treatment of advanced HCC. Aside from best supportive care, there is no second line therapy available for HCC. It is hypothesized that TAC 101 treatment can extend Overall Survival (OS) after discontinuation of sorafenib.