A review of the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: standard therapy and a look to new targets.
Management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to be challenging, but new treatment options are evolving. A multidisciplinary evaluation will help make the best treatment decisions for each patient. Although we continue to improve the outcomes of curative treatment with resection, liver transplant, and radiofrequency ablation (RFA), many new liver-directed regional therapies including drug-eluting beads, radioembolization, and radiation are emerging. Sorafenib remains the only approved agent for advanced HCC, and its role in the adjuvant setting following resection or RFA, with transarterial chemoembolization, or in combination with other targeted agents or chemotherapy in the advanced stage is under investigation. Many molecularly targeted agents with novel mechanisms of action are under active development.
From the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Andrew X
AX
Zhu