Preliminary efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and quality of life study of pegylated recombinant human arginase 1 in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety profile, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and quality of life of pegylated recombinant human arginase 1 (Peg-rhAgr1) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients were given weekly doses of Peg-rhAgr1 (1600 U/kg). Tumour response was assessed every 8 weeks using RECIST 1.1 and modified RECIST criteria. A total of 20 patients were recruited, of whom 15 were deemed evaluable for treatment efficacy. Eighteen patients (90 %) were hepatitis B carriers. Median age was 61.5 (range 30–75). Overall disease control rate was 13 %, with 2 of the 15 patients achieving stable disease for >8 weeks. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 1.7 (95 % CI: 1.67–1.73) months, with median overall survival (OS) of all 20 enrolled patients being 5.2 (95 % CI: 3.3–12.0) months. PFS was significantly prolonged in patients with adequate arginine depletion (ADD) >2 months versus those who had ≤2 months of ADD (6.4 versus 1.7 months; p = 0.01). The majority of adverse events (AEs) were grade 1/2 non-hematological toxicities. Transient liver dysfunctions (25 %) were the most commonly reported serious AEs and likely due to disease progression. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data showed that Peg-rhAgr1 induced rapid and sustained arginine depletion. The overall quality of life of the enrolled patients was well preserved. Peg-rhAgr1 is well tolerated with a good toxicity profile in patients with advanced HCC. A weekly dose of 1600 U/kg is sufficient to induce ADD. Significantly longer PFS times were recorded for patients who had ADD for >2 months.