title: A Recent Advance in Image-Guided Locoregional Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths. Hepatic resection and liver transplantation are considered to be the preferred treatment for HCC. However, as novel therapeutic options such as image-guided locoregional therapies have emerged and been refined, the manner in which HCC is treated has changed dramatically compared with what it was considered just 2 decades earlier.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study reviews the current results of various image-guided locoregional therapies for treating HCC, especially focusing on thermal ablative and transarterial techniques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Advances in image-guided locoregional therapies, including local ablative therapy and transarterial therapy, have led to a major breakthrough in the management of HCC. Both survival rates and cure rates of patients with HCC have improved markedly since the introduction of these techniques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Radiofrequency ablation is currently considered as an alternative to surgical resection for patients with early-stage HCC. A newer technique of ablation such as microwave ablation is increasingly being used, especially for large HCC. Transarterial chemoembolization has become a standard care for asymptomatic patients with multinodular tumors in intermediate-stage disease, and transarterial radioembolization has become the method of choice in HCC cases with portal vein thrombosis. Moreover, combination treatment modalities, such as thermal-based ablation combined with transarterial chemoembolization or125I seed implant brachytherapy, may further broaden their clinical indications for HCC. Moreover, use of localized radiation in combination with thermal ablation has been reported to improve tumor control and long-term survival.
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Oncology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yaoping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Interventional Oncology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhai
keywords: 125I seed; Ablation; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Image-guided locoregional therapy; Local ablative therapy; Radiofrequency ablation; Transarterial therapy