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NCT Number: NCT07461675

Effects of Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy on Anti-tumour Immunity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Liver Resection

Our study aims to evaluate the benefit of the administration of immunotherapy (atezolizumab), in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), prior surgical resection of the tumor.

HCC is the most prevalent primary liver cancer, responsible for nearly 800,000 deaths annually, making it the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Ablation by radiologic micro-waves or surgical resection represent at the moment the only curative therapies for early stages of the disease. Despite these curative options, HCC recurrence is frequent.

Recently, immunotherapy has demonstrated good results on patient overall survival for advanced stages of HCC in comparison to sorafenib. Because of the beneficial effect of immunotherapy on HCC, several groups have attempt to use it as adjuvant therapy in order to reduce the recurrence rate. However the results are at the moment controversial. One can hypothetize that postoperative inflammation and liver regeneration can negatively impact the effect of the immunotherapy. Therefore, the administration of the treatmeent before surgical resection could overcome this issue.

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Key information

Conditions

Hepato Cellular Carcinoma (HCC) Adenocarcinoma Carcinoma Carcinoma, Hepatocellular Digestive System Diseases Digestive System Neoplasms Immunotherapy Liver Diseases Liver Neoplasms Neoplasms Neoplasms by Histologic Type Neoplasms by Site Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 3

Primary location

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • All adult patients undergoing liver resection for HCC at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), with prior informed and signed consent.
  • Patients of childbearing age must be willing to use a contraception at the day of inclusion and for at least 5 months after the last infusion.
  • Negative pregnancy test at inclusion
  • Patients will require to be eligible for surgical resection according to the BCLC guidelines (very early to early stage with preserved liver function and good patient condition) (4).
  • The control group will include data from the patients in our ongoing research project (study protocol 2023-02372), undergoing liver resection without prior ICI therapy (n = 30).

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients who do not ultimately undergo liver resection due to unforeseen reasons (this happens rarely, such as in the presence of unexpected HCC progression discovered during surgery).
  • Patients with an ongoing pregnancy (an unlikely event, as non-surgical HCC treatments would be prioritized in such cases).
  • Patients unable to follow procedures due to language barriers, insufficient comprehension of project language, or unable to give consent.
  • Patients <18 years.
  • Patients with medical history of allergy or severe AEs to ICI therapy
  • Pregnant and/or breastfeeding women. Lactating women should stop lactation or will be excluded from the study as breastfeeding under atezolizumab is not recommended. Furthermore, breastfeeding is not recommended for at least 5 months after the last dose.
  • Immunosuppressed patients and patients with haematological disorder leading to a deficient immunity
  • Patients with hepatic and/or cardiovascular deficiencies that contra-indicate surgery. Compensated cirrhotic patients are expected and will be included in the study as no dosage modification of the atezolizumab is required for these patients.
  • Patients who received a live or attenuated vaccine in the last 28 days before inclusion in the study.
  • Patients with untreated Hepatitis B and/or C or HIV. HIV patients under treatment with normal CD4 counts can be included. Hepatitis B and/or C patients under antiviral therapies can be included.
  • Patients with history of inflammatory pneumopathy, active brain metastasis and patients treated with a systemic immunotherapy in the last 6 months.
  • Patients under steroid treatment during the inclusion will be excluded.

Treatment and study plan

Atezolizumab

Drug

Patients will receive two doses of atzolizumab 6 and 3 weeks before surgery

Primary outcomes

  1. Difference in frequency of flow cytometry-assessed HCC-specific CD8+ cells in the periphery (PBMC) between patients with vs without ICI therapy prior to liver surgery

    Time frame: Four years

    We will assess the impact of ICI therapy on the frequency of HCC-specific CD8+ lymphocytes. The currently recruited patients will be compared to historical patients without ICI treatment. After flow cytometry sorting, bulk RNA sequencing of CD8+ cells will be performed. The SEQTR method will define the frequency of HCC-specific TCR.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Tumor microenvironment changes induced by ICI therapy

    Time frame: four years

    Especially changes in HCC-specific T cell response in the periphery after versus prior to surgery. TCR subtypes will be identified by TCR single cell sequencing in the peripheral blood and in the tumor. Additionnaly immune cell type population, their activation and suppression markers as well as the frequency of the subtypes will be assesed by flow cytometry (CD8, CD4, memory T cells, exhausted markers (PD-L1, TIM-3, LAG-2)).

  2. Overall survival and recurrence free survival

    Time frame: four years

    We will analyze the survival and recurrence rates in order to evaluate the impact or potential benefit of neoadjuvant atezolizumab

  3. Tumor burden

    Time frame: Four years

    We will evaluate the impact of atezolizumab on the tumor burden such as the number and size of HCC nodules and compare it before the treatment and before surgery to evaluate the level of downstaging of the tumor that we can expect.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Charles-Henri Wassmer, MD-PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

+41786682206

Christian Toso, Professor

CONTACT

[email protected]

+41795533673

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Geneva, Switzerland

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2029
Study completion
2029
First posted
Mar 10, 2026
Registry last updated
Mar 10, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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