Conditions: Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 52
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine whether TAC-101 as a second line therapy for participants who received Sorafenib as first line therapy is effective in slowing tumor activity in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. The study is also looking at the safety of TAC-101 following treatment with Sorafenib.

Detailed description:
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.

Arms:
arm 1: Participants with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had previously received Sorafenib (as first line therapy) were administered a dose of 20 milligram per day (mg/day) of TAC-101 (as second line treatment) oral tablets within 1 hour post morning meals on Days 1 to 14 followed by a recovery period on Days 15 to 21 in 21-day cycle until disease progression or participant met a treatment discontinuation criterion. arm 2: Participants with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had previously received Sorafenib (as first line therapy) were administered a matching placebo for TAC-101 oral tablets within 1 hour post morning meals on Days 1 to 14 followed by a recovery period from on 15 to 21 in 21-day cycle until disease progression or participant met a treatment discontinuation criterion.

Interventions: intervention 1: TAC-101 intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Participants were randomized to TAC 101 received TAC 101 20 mg (administered as 2 10 mg formulated tablets) PO daily with approximately 240 mL (8 oz) of water under fed conditions (no later than 1 hour after a meal) for 14 days followed by a 7 day recovery period. This cycle was repeated every 21 days. intervention 2: Participants randomized to placebo received 2 placebo tablets (identical in appearance to the TAC 101 tablets) administered PO daily with approximately 240 mL (8 oz) of water under fed conditions (no later than 1 hour after a meal) in a regimen identical to that for TAC 101.

Protocol document: