Revisiting oxaliplatin-based regimens for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a global health problem, as it is the sixth most common cancer in the world and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Many patients with HCC present with disease that is not suitable for any potentially curative therapy; such patients are candidates for palliative transarterial or systemic therapies. Sorafenib is the only systemic therapy to demonstrate modest survival benefit over supportive care in the context of randomised controlled trials. However, many cytotoxic chemotherapeutics have achieved a range of tumour responses, but so far without convincing survival benefits in smaller phase II studies. In this commentary, we will review the data regarding the recent interest for the use of oxaliplatin-based regimens for advanced HCC.