On July 5, 2025, during the 13th Digestive Surgery Academic Conference, the team led by Professor Dong Jiahong of Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua University, held a data release session for the TALENTACE study, presenting the results in detail to domestic and international experts for the first time. This five-year, global, multicenter study in hepatobiliary oncology is the first Phase III clinical trial targeting Chinese patients with hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and medium-to-high tumor burden (beyond the “up-to-6” criteria). It evaluated the combination of systemic therapy with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (“T+A” immunotherapy-targeted regimen) and local therapy via transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). The approach has brought new hope for conversion therapy (turning unresectable tumors into resectable ones) and long-term survival. With its breakthrough findings, TALENTACE became the only Phase III HCC study from this year selected for the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer (ESMO GI), where its data was presented as an oral report on July 3, contributing a China-developed solution to the global fight against liver cancer.
Professor Zhou Jun Presents the Findings
Approximately 60% to 70% of liver cancer patients in China lose the opportunity for surgery at diagnosis. For patients with unresectable disease and high tumor burden, effective treatment options have long been extremely limited, with poor prognoses. The TALENTACE study adopted an innovative dual-pathway synergistic strategy that combined systemic therapy (“T+A” immunotherapy-targeted regimen) with local therapy TACE (transcatheter arterial chemoembolization). This approach prolonged progression-free survival, provided high-level evidence for comprehensive liver cancer treatment, and confirmed the value of combining systemic and local therapies.
As the principal investigator, Professor Dong explained that the project began in 2020 and overcame numerous challenges in execution, patient follow-up, and data management to achieve its breakthrough positive results. The study reflects the dedication of leading domestic and international collaborating centers and carries the mission of substantially improving survival outcomes for liver cancer patients. It is set to drive a paradigm shift toward integrating precise local control with systemic molecular interventions, ushering in a new era of cancer therapy. “This achievement has opened a new window of hope for liver cancer patients and raised many important scientific questions worthy of further investigation”, said Dong.
At the conference, multiple experts jointly launched the TALENTACE data release ceremony. Professor Dong, along with heads of participating centers and representatives from Roche Pharmaceuticals, attended the event. The research team stated that they will continue to mine the value of the data and accelerate clinical translation of the results to ultimately benefit patients worldwide.
