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Semin intervent Radiol 2020; 37(05): 456-465
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1719186
Review Article

Therapy of Intermediate-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Current Evidence and Clinical Practice

Nathan X. Chai
1   Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
,
Julius Chapiro
1   Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
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Abstract

Intermediate-stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) represents a wide range of disease burden. Patients with different levels of liver function, tumor size, and number of lesions may all have intermediate-stage disease according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system. Several minimally invasive image-guided locoregional therapies are available for the treatment of intermediate-stage HCC, including conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE), drug-eluting bead TACE (DEB-TACE), yttrium-90 radioembolization (Y-90 RE), thermal ablation, bland embolization, and combination therapy. Available clinical evidence points to cTACE as the current gold standard for the locoregional treatment of intermediate-stage HCC. DEB-TACE is at best non-inferior to cTACE in terms of survival benefit. Y-90 RE is a maturing therapy, and some institutions have adopted it as first-line therapy for intermediate-stage HCC. Thermal ablation combined with TACE may be used in select patients, while bland embolization has only limited evidence for its use. The combination of locoregional therapy with VEGF inhibitors or immune checkpoint inhibitors has also been explored. This article will examine in detail the clinical evidence supporting available locoregional treatment options for intermediate-stage HCC.

Keywords

transarterial chemoembolization - radioembolization - ablation - hepatocellular carcinoma - Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer


Publication History

Article published online:
11 December 2020

© 2020. Thieme. All rights reserved.

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