Press Conference at National Cancer Centre Singapore: Announcing the Launch of AHCC06 Trial
After the signing ceremony between Sirtex Medical and Singapore General Hospital, Protocol-chair, A/Prof Pierce Chow officially announced the launch of multi-centre Phase III AHCC06 Trial (Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial of Selective Internal Radiation Therapy (SIRT) Versus Sorafenib in Locally Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma, SIRveNIB) at the press conference, held at the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) on 24 June 2010.
This is the largest trial to date conducted by the AHCC Trials Group and is supported by the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) and Sirtex Medical with a combined funding of around $10 million. New centres from Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam are invited to collaborate with the current members of the AHCC Trials Group from Myanmar and Thailand as well as some of the countries mentioned above. Together, they will investigate the difference in overall survival between 2 different treatments for patients with locally advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC).
Left Image: (From Left) A/Prof Pierce Chow (SGH), Prof Soo Khee Chee (NCCS), A/Prof Tan Say Beng (SCRI)
Right Image: (Participating investigators of AHCC06 from left) Dr Victor Lee (NUH), A/Prof Kenneth Mak (KTPH), A/Prof Pierce Chow (SGH) and A/Prof Teo Eng Kiong (CGH)
Sorafenib has proved to prolong overall survival for advanced HCC compared to placebo while SIRT has demonstrated higher efficacy over Transarterial Chemo-Embolisation (TACE) in advanced HCC. However, both treatments have never been compared together for locally advanced disease in a randomised controlled trial. The randomised 360-patient AHCC06 trial is thus launched and will determine which of the efficacious therapy is more beneficial and will serve as the first-line therapy to the advanced HCC patients.
Abbreviations
CGH – Changi General Hospital
KTPH – Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
NUH – National University Hospital
SGH – Singapore General Hospital
SCRI – Singapore Clinical Research Institute