STRIDE Regimen Combined with Lenvatinib and TACE Shows Positive Overall Survival Trend
ShanghaiJune 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Positive results from the EMERALD-3 Phase III clinical trial showed that AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi® (generic name: durvalumab) combined with Imjudo® (generic name: tremelimumab), lenvatinib, and transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared to TACE alone in patients with embolization-eligible unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The study evaluated the efficacy of the STRIDE regimen (a single dose of tremelimumab combined with fixed-interval durvalumab) administered before TACE, with or without lenvatinib, followed by combination with TACE.
The results were presented as an oral presentation at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, USA (Abstract #LBA4000).
Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa, Professor of Medicine and Attending Physician in the Department of Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and Principal Investigator of the EMERALD-3 trial, stated: “For liver cancer patients eligible for embolization, the burden of repeated local treatments is significant, and there is an urgent need for new systemic therapies that can effectively delay disease progression or recurrence. The EMERALD-3 study brings a meaningful improvement to patients. When receiving dual immunotherapy, with or without lenvatinib, nearly one-third of patients were alive without disease progression after two years, and a trend toward improved survival benefit was observed.”
Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said: “Building on the practice-changing results of the HIMALAYA Phase III study, the progression-free survival benefit and early overall survival trend from the EMERALD-3 study further highlight the significance of moving the STRIDE regimen to an earlier treatment stage. These results advance our strategy of introducing innovative immunotherapy options into earlier stages of cancer and confirm our opportunity to bring new treatment options to patients in this challenging field of liver cancer therapy.”
The safety profiles of each combination therapy were consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual drugs. In the STRIDE regimen combined with lenvatinib and TACE treatment group, 71.4% of patients experienced Grade 3 or higher all-cause adverse events; in the STRIDE regimen combined with TACE treatment group, this proportion was 64%; and in the TACE alone treatment group, it was 28.6%.
Summary of EMERALD-3 Clinical Trial Results:
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STRIDE Regimen + Lenvatinib + TACE Treatment Group (n=293) |
TACE Alone Treatment Group (n=292) |
STRIDE Regimen + TACE Treatment Group (n=175) |
TACE Alone Treatment Group (n=175) |
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Progression-Free Survival (PFS) |
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Number of Patients with Events (%) |
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Median PFS (months) |
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HR (95% CI) |
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P-value |
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Data Maturity |
63.8% i |
75.1% iii |
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12-month PFS Rate (%) |
56.2 |
42.9 |
53.0 |
38.0 |
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18-month PFS Rate (%) |
42.1 |
30.8 |
38.8 |
29.8 |
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24-month PFS Rate (%) |
30.4 |
19.3 |
30.0 |
20.3 |
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Overall Survival (OS) |
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HR (95% CI) iii |
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P-value |
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Median OS (months) iii |
NC (37.7-NC) iv, viii |
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Data Maturity iii |
40.3% |
45.4% |
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12-month OS Rate (%) iii |
83.2 |
82.0 |
87.7 |
81.5 |
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18-month OS Rate (%) iii |
77.5 |
69.7 |
76.4 |
67.3 |
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24-month OS Rate (%) iii |
66.9 |
61.5 |
68.0 |
57.8 |
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NC, Not Calculable i Data cutoff date: September 2, 2025. ii PFS assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review (BICR) per RECIST v1.1. iii Data cutoff date: February 23, 2026. iv Descriptive presentation per pre-specified multiplicity/hierarchical analysis; no formal statistical inference claimed. v Stratified log-rank test. vi Nominal value. vii Estimated using stratified Cox proportional hazards model. viii Calculated using Kaplan-Meier method; CI derived based on Brookmeyer-Crowley method. |
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