PHY906 in Liver Cancer

PHY906 in Liver Cancer (Hepatocellular Carcinoma)

Although the incidence of primary liver cancer or hapatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is low in the U.S., a survival rate of less than 5 % 5 years post diagnosis makes it one of the deadliest cancers. Systemic chemotherapy is used in the treatment of HCC. However, it is associated with poor response rates and toxicity. The FDA has, to date, not approved a standard chemotherapeutic regimen for HCC. Capecitabine, an oral chemotherapeutic, has been approved for use in colorectal and breast cancers. It is also used in the off-label treatment of HCC. When capecitabine was administered concurrently with PHY906 in a mouse hepatoma xenograft model, the results indicated that PHY906 potentiated capecitabine’s antitumor effect (Figure 1).

PHY906 + capecitabine for HCC is currently in a phase I/II clinical study in the U.S. All sites are actively recruiting patients.

Figure 1. PHY906 Enhances Anticancer Activities of Chemotherapeutic Agents

PHY906 alone does not show any significant antitumor activity against HepG2 tumor. However, it shows enhancement of antitumor activity of capecitabine in human hepatocellular cancer mouse xenografts.