Newer treatments for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. The only curative treatment modalities for HCC are surgery, percutaneous ablation, and liver transplantation. Unfortunately, the majority of patients have unresectable disease at diagnosis. Therefore, effective treatment options are needed for patients with advanced HCC. The current standard treatment for patients with advanced HCC, according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system, is the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib. Other alternative therapies are required, due to the limited treatment response to, and tolerance of, this molecular target agent. Clinical trials of hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy, radioembolization, and multimodal treatments have shown favorable results in advanced HCC patients. This article introduces new treatment modalities for advanced HCC and discusses future therapeutic possibilities.