Adebrelimab plus TACE and/or HAIC for primary liver cancer: A retrospective study.
Ruipeng Zheng, Jiarui Li, Haifeng Zhang296
Background: This retrospective analysis reports on the use of adebrelimab—a novel PD-L1 inhibitor—in combination with transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE) and/or hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) for the treatment of primary liver cancer. Methods: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Hospital of Jilin University and conducted within the interventional department. Inclusion criteria were: (1) pathological or clinical diagnosis of primary liver cancer; (2) at least one cycle of adebrelimab plus TACE and/or HAIC; (3) complete medical records and patient cooperation for follow-up. Cases were enrolled between March 2023 and January 2026. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS); secondary endpoints included overall response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), and safety. Analyses were performed using R software (version 4.5.2). Results: Seventy-two patients were included. The cohort was predominantly male (83.3%), aged < 65 years (75.0%), with hepatitis B virus infection in 55.6%. Most patients had BCLC stage B disease (66.7%) and Child-Pugh class B liver function (59.7%); portal-vein tumour thrombus was present in 88.9%, and 19.4% had extrahepatic metastases. Median PFS was 7.1 months (95% CI 5.1–9.9 months). Median OS was 17.9 months (95% CI 10.8–not reached). ORR was 65.3% (47/72) and DCR was 70.8% (51/72). The most frequent any-grade adverse events (AEs) associated with interventional therapy (≥10%) were fever, hypoalbuminemia, and abnormal liver-function tests. Any-grade AEs attributed to adebrelimab included elevated bilirubin, increased creatinine, decreased white-blood-cell count, and fatigue. Grade ≥3 interventional-therapy-related AEs comprised elevated ALT (5.6%), elevated AST (15.3%), and raised blood bilirubin (2.8%). Grade ≥3 adebrelimab-related AEs were limited to decreased white-blood-cell count (1.4%). No fatal AEs were reported. Conclusions: The combination of adebrelimab with TACE and/or HAIC showed encouraging efficacy and a manageable safety profile in patients with primary liver cancer. Prospective clinical trials are warranted to further evaluate this regimen.