Clinical trial NCT00619541 (phase 2, status: completed)
Conditions: hepatocellular carcinoma
ICD codes: C22.0, C4A.9, C7B.1, C4A.0, C4A.31, C4A.51, C4A.8
Drugs: infusional 5-fluorouracil, sorafenib (bay 43-9006)
SMILES: FC1=CNC(=O)NC1=O, CNC(=O)C1=NC=CC(OC2=CC=C(NC(=O)NC3=CC(=C(Cl)C=C3)C(F)(F)F)C=C2)=C1
Eligibility criteria:

        Inclusion Criteria:

        Screening must be done within 28 days of study drug administration (laboratory evaluations
        must be done within 7 days). For inclusion in the study, patients must fulfill all of the
        following criteria:

          -  Age 18 years.

          -  Patients should have proven primary HCC according to one of the following criteria:

               -  Histological evidence of HCC on a biopsy specimen. Patients with the
                  fibrolamellar subset are excluded, as are any patients with a mixed histology.

               -  Cytological evidence of HCC is acceptable only if tissue cannot be obtained for
                  histological evaluation.

          -  ECOG Performance Status of 0 or 1

          -  Life expectancy of at least 12 weeks at the pre-treatment evaluation.

          -  Inoperable tumor (T2-T4, any N, M0 or M1 as defined by the TNM classification)

          -  Patient considered by the investigator to be appropriate for systemic therapy.

          -  Patients with at least one measurable lesion by CT-scan or MRI according to the Recist
             criteria, performed within 4 weeks prior to start of dosing.

          -  Patients who have not received any systemic anti-cancer treatment for HCC such as:
             chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormonal therapy, vaccines as well as any systemic agent
             given with antineoplastic intent, prior to study inclusion. (previous local therapy is
             permitted). Previous treatment with Octreotide is however allowed, provided that the
             administration of the drug was discontinued at least 7 days prior enrolment or at
             least 28 days if the LAR (long acting release) formulation of the drug was used.

          -  Patients who have received local therapy, such as: surgery, radiation therapy, hepatic
             arterial embolization, chemo-embolization, radio-frequency ablation or cryo-ablation
             are eligible, provided that they either have a target lesion which has not been
             subjected to local therapy and/or the target lesion(s) within the field of the local
             therapy has shown an increase of 25% in the size. Furthermore, the local therapy
             applied to target or non-target lesions needs to have been completed at least 8 weeks
             prior to study inclusion (Lesions treated with external beam radiation therapy are not
             acceptable as target lesions, unless they fulfill the conditions described above).

          -  Adequate bone marrow, liver and renal function, as assessed by the following
             laboratory requirements to be conducted within 7 days prior to screening:

               -  Hemoglobin 8.5 g/dl

               -  Absolute granulocytes 1.5 x 109/L

               -  Platelet count 60 x 109/L

               -  Total serum bilirubin 3 mg/dl

               -  ALT (SGOT) and AST (SGPT) 5 x upper limit of normal

               -  PT-INR 2.3 or PT 6 seconds above control

               -  Serum creatinine 1.5 x upper limit of normal.

          -  Cirrhotic status of Child's Pugh class A or B. Child's Pugh class C should be excluded

          -  Written Informed Consent must be obtained and documented prior to any study specific
             procedures.

        Exclusion Criteria:

        Patients who meet the following criteria at the time of screening will be excluded;
        excluded medical conditions:

          -  Congestive heart failure defined as NYHA class III or IV.

          -  Serious cardiac arrhythmias.

          -  Active coronary artery disease or ischemia.

          -  Active clinically serious infections (> grade 2 NCI-CTC).

          -  Known history of HIV infection.

          -  Known metastatic brain or meningeal tumors.

          -  History of seizure disorder.

          -  History of organ allograft.

          -  Previous malignancy (except for cervical carcinoma in situ, adequately treated basal
             cell carcinoma, or superficial bladder tumors [Ta, Tis & T1] or other malignancies
             curatively treated > 3 years prior to entry).

          -  Patients with clinically significant gastrointestinal bleeding within the past month
             prior to study entry are ineligible.

        Excluded therapies and medications, previous and concomitant:

          -  Any systemic anticancer treatment or any agent administered with antineoplastic
             intent, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy , vaccines or hormonal therapy given
             before study entry or during study treatment. Anticancer therapy is defined as any
             agent or combination of agents with clinically proven anticancer activity administered
             systemically, with the purpose of affecting the cancer, either directly or indirectly,
             including palliative and therapeutic endpoints. In certain cases, local anticancer
             therapy is allowed. See Inclusion Criteria for details.

          -  Any surgical procedure within 4 weeks prior to start of study drug.

          -  Autologous bone marrow transplant or stem cell rescue within 4 months of study entry.

          -  Use of biologic response modifiers, such as G-CSF, within 3 weeks of study entry.
             G-CSF and other hematopoietic growth factors may be used in the management of acute
             toxicity, such as febrile neutropenia, when clinically indicated, or at the discretion
             of the investigator; however, they may not be substituted for a required dose
             reduction. Chronic Erythropoietin treatment prior to the study entry or during the
             study is permitted.

          -  Use of ritonavir and grapefruit juice.

          -  Prior use of Raf-Kinase inhibitors, MEK or Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitors. Any
             investigational drug therapy outside of this trial during or within 4 weeks of study
             entry.

        Other Exclusion Criteria:

          -  Pregnant or breast-feeding patients. Women of childbearing potential must have a
             negative pregnancy test performed within 7 days of the start of treatment. Both men
             and women enrolled in this trial must use adequate barrier birth control measures
             (e.g. cervical cap, condom, diaphragm) during the course of the trial. Oral birth
             control methods alone will not be considered adequate on this study, because of the
             potential pharmacokinetic interaction between SORAFENIB and oral contraceptives.

          -  Substance abuse, medical, psychological or social conditions that, in the judgment of
             the investigator, is likely to interfere with the patient's participation in the study
             or evaluation of the study results.

          -  Known allergy to the investigational agent or any agent given in association with this
             trial.

          -  Any condition that is unstable or could jeopardize the safety of the patient and its
             compliance in the study, in the investigator's judgment.