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REACH-2 showed that the antibody ramucirumab helped people with liver cancer live longer after sorafenib, but only when a blood marker, alpha-fetoprotein, was high, making it the first liver cancer drug approved on a biomarker.
The earlier REACH trial of ramucirumab, an antibody against VEGF receptor 2, missed its overall survival endpoint in the whole population but showed a benefit in patients with an alpha-fetoprotein of 400 ng/mL or more. REACH-2 tested exactly that group: patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had progressed on or were intolerant of sorafenib were randomised two to one to ramucirumab or placebo, with overall survival as the primary endpoint.
Ramucirumab lengthened overall survival and progression-free survival compared with placebo, confirming the biomarker hypothesis, and was approved in the United States in May 2019 for this population, the first biomarker-selected approval in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Numbers are from the trial as recorded here; see the source links in the table below. This is orientation, not medical advice: ask your team how closely the trial population matches you.
Median follow-up 7.6 months
Source| Endpoint | Arm | n | Value | HR (95% CI) | p | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall survivalprimary | Ramucirumab 8 mg/kg | 197 | 8.5 months | 0.71 (0.531 to 0.949) | 0.0199 | link |
| Placebo | 95 | 7.3 months | ||||
| Progression-free survival | Ramucirumab 8 mg/kg | 197 | 2.8 months | 0.452 (0.339 to 0.603) | <0.0001 | link |
| Placebo | 95 | 1.6 months | ||||
| Objective response | Ramucirumab 8 mg/kg | 197 | 5% | - | 0.1697 | link |
| Placebo | 95 | 1% | ||||
| Grade 3 or worse hypertension | Ramucirumab 8 mg/kg | 197 | 13% | - | - | link |
| Placebo | 95 | 5% |
The full inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the registry record. Read 2026-10-07. Recruiting overall does not mean a particular site is open; ask the study team.
ClinicalTrials.gov data courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine.
Shares Anti-angiogenic therapy, Monoclonal antibodies and the tag subtype-trials.
Shares Anti-angiogenic therapy, Monoclonal antibodies and the tag subtype-trials.
Shares Anti-angiogenic therapy and the tag subtype-trials.
Shares Anti-angiogenic therapy and the tag subtype-trials.
Shares Anti-angiogenic therapy and the tag subtype-trials.
Shares Monoclonal antibodies and the tag subtype-trials.
Shares Anti-angiogenic therapy and the tag subtype-trials.
Shares Anti-angiogenic therapy and the tag subtype-trials.
Every source this page cites, grouped by who published it. Grouping is read from the web address, not assigned by hand.
A source that has moved or gone is reported by the weekly link check. /audit/