Meclizine for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (OPTIM) (H-40370)

OPTIM: A Window of Opportunity Trial With Meclizine in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Purpose:
Meclizine hydrochloride is an antihistamine widely used for treatment of vertigo and motion sickness. In HCC it has been used for anti-emetic effects, but it is used here as a CAR (constitutive androstane receptor) inverse agonist.

The hypothesis of this study is that meclizine, a CAR inverse agonist, will have a beneficial therapeutic effect in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who are candidates for surgical resection, ablation or TACE (trans-arterial chemoembolization) by blocking tumorigenesis and inducing apoptosis.