ThermoDox (Celsion) fails Phase III trial for Liver Cancer

Celsion Corporation has announced that ThermoDox in combination with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) did not meet the primary endpoint of the Phase III HEAT Study in patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), also known as Primary Liver Cancer. Specifically, Celsion has determined, after conferring with its independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) that the HEAT Study did not meet the goal of demonstrating persuasive evidence of clinical effectiveness that could form the basis for regulatory approval in the population chosen for study.

The HEAT Study was designed to show a 33% improvement in PFS with 80% power and a p-value = 0.05. In the trial, ThermoDox was well-tolerated with no unexpected serious adverse events.