WILMINGTON, DE — AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN) reported Phase III trial results showing that a combination of its immunotherapy drugs IMFINZI and IMJUDO with lenvatinib and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) significantly delayed disease progression in patients with unresectable liver cancer, potentially expanding treatment options in a setting with limited systemic therapies.
The findings from the EMERALD-3 trial were presented June 1 at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago.
In a planned interim analysis, patients treated with the STRIDE regimen — a combination of IMFINZI (durvalumab) and IMJUDO (tremelimumab-actl) — plus lenvatinib and TACE experienced a 30% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared with TACE alone.
Median progression-free survival was 13.0 months in the combination-treatment group versus 9.8 months for patients receiving TACE alone. The benefit was observed across key patient subgroups, according to the company.
The trial also showed an encouraging trend in overall survival for the combination regimen, though the result did not meet the threshold for statistical significance at this interim analysis. The overall survival hazard ratio was 0.84 compared with TACE alone.
A second investigational arm evaluating the STRIDE regimen with TACE, but without lenvatinib, also demonstrated improvements in progression-free survival and overall survival compared with TACE alone. Median progression-free survival in that arm was 12.9 months versus 8.1 months for TACE alone.
The trial remains ongoing and will continue to evaluate overall survival and other secondary endpoints.
“Patients with embolization-eligible liver cancer face the burden of repeated localized therapy and are in urgent need of new systemic treatment options to delay disease progression and recurrence,” said Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the study’s principal investigator. “The EMERALD-3 trial represents a meaningful advance for patients, with nearly one in three alive and progression-free at two years when treated with this dual immunotherapy regimen with or without lenvatinib, with a trend toward improved survival.”
The results build on AstraZeneca’s previous HIMALAYA Phase III study, which helped establish the STRIDE regimen as a treatment option in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer.
Susan Galbraith, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president for oncology hematology research and development, said the findings support efforts to move immunotherapy combinations into earlier stages of disease treatment.
“These progression-free survival results and the early overall survival trend in the EMERALD-3 trial highlight the meaningful impact of bringing the STRIDE regimen into an earlier setting,” Galbraith said.
Safety findings were generally consistent with the known profiles of the therapies involved. Grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred in 71.4% of patients receiving the STRIDE, lenvatinib and TACE combination and 64% of patients receiving STRIDE plus TACE, compared with 28.6% of patients treated with TACE alone.
Hepatocellular carcinoma accounts for the majority of liver cancer cases worldwide and is frequently diagnosed at stages where surgery is no longer an option, making improvements in progression-free survival and overall survival key measures in evaluating new treatments.
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