Dr Stephen Chan speaks to ecancer about the phase 3 keynote-937 study.

In this trial, adjuvant pembrolizumab did not improve recurrence-free survival compared with placebo in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who achieved complete response after surgical resection or local ablation.

At a median follow-up of more than four years, recurrence-free survival and overall survival were similar between treatment arms, and the primary endpoint was not met, precluding further overall survival analysis.

While pembrolizumab was associated with higher rates of grade ≥3 adverse events, no new safety signals or treatment-related deaths were observed.

These results indicate that pembrolizumab does not provide clinical benefit as adjuvant therapy following curative-intent treatment in HCC.