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# FDA Expands Bayer Drug for Liver Cancer Use
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/fda-expands-bayer-drug-for-liver-cancer-use/
- Published: 2017-04-27T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:20:34.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5138570

FDA has expanded the use of Bayer’s Stivarga (regorafinib) to include treating patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) who have been previously treated with the drug sorafenib. This is the first agency-approved treatment for a liver cancer in almost a decade, an [FDA release](https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm555608.htm?ref=fdaweb.com) says.

Stivarga is a kinase inhibitor that works by blocking several enzymes that promote cancer growth, including enzymes in the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway. It is also approved to treat colorectal cancer and gastrointestinal stromal tumors that are no longer responding to other treatments.

  
Approval was based on data from a 573-patient trial that measured overall survival, progression-free survival and overall response rate. “The median overall survival for patients taking Stivarga was 10.6 months, compared to 7.8 months for patients taking a placebo,” the agency says. “The median progression-free survival for patients taking Stivarga was 3.1 months compared to 1.5 months for patients taking a placebo. The overall response rate for patients taking Stivarga was 11%, compared to 4% of patients taking placebo.”