The addition of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to sorafenib for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) improved PFS and OS with maintained quality of life (QOL).

In the randomized phase III NRG Oncology/RTOG 1112 trial, 193 patients with advanced HCC ineligible for surgical resection or other loco-regional therapies with median age of 66 years were randomly assigned to either sorafenib alone or SBRT (27.5 to 50 Gy in 5 fractions) plus sorafenib.

The results that were presented by Dawson et al at the ASTRO 2022 meeting showed superior OS in patients who received SBRT + sorafenib compared sorafenib only (15.8 vs 12.3 months, P = .042 after adjusting for prognostic factors). Similarly, median PFS was significantly improved in the SBRT arm (9.2 versus 5.5 months respectively, P < .001). Grade 3 or higher adverse events were similar between both groups (47% versus 42%, respectively).