Hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC is the most commonly observed form of liver cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. For patients with an advanced form of HCC, there are different types of systemic treatments available, which travel through the bloodstream and target cancer cells across the body. One such treatment involves a combination of the drugs atezolizumab and bevacizumab, and is referred to as Atezo/Bev therapy.
Atezo/Bev therapy is generally recommended as the first treatment for patients with liver cancer . However, there are no reliable markers that can be used to predict its effectiveness. A team of researchers led by Dr.
Akinobu Takaki from the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Okayama University, Japan, along with Dr. Yuki Sasaki, Dr. Kazuyuki Matsumoto, and Dr.
Motoyuki Otsuka from Okayama University, Japan have explored the application of anti-PD1 autoantibody for prognosis of cancer. Their findings were published in Gastro Hep Advances on August 2, 2024. "Although Atezo/Bev combination therapy shows a strong effect, nearly 20% of treated patients show progressive disease.
As a result, it is important to predict the efficacy of Atezo/Bev and develop an appropriate regimen," says Dr. Takaki. To identify a suitable marker for predicting treatment efficacy, the authors focused on autoantibodies, which are antibodies produced by the immune system that act against an individual's own proteins.
They have been observed in se.