scholarly journals Contemporary Strategies in the Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

HPB Surgery ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirin Elizabeth Khorsandi ◽  
Nigel Heaton
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Tumor Recurrence ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Organ Shortage ◽  
Biological Therapies ◽  
Ablative Therapies ◽  
Team Working ◽  
Synthetic Function ◽  
Locoregional Therapies ◽  
A Current

Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice for selected patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on a background of chronic liver disease. Liver resection or locoregional ablative therapies may be indicated for patients with preserved synthetic function without significant portal hypertension. Milan criteria were introduced to select suitable patients for liver transplant with low risk of tumor recurrence and 5-year survival in excess of 70%. Currently the incidence of HCC is climbing rapidly and in a current climate of organ shortage has led to the re-evaluation of locoregional therapies and resectional surgery to manage the case load. The introduction of biological therapies has had a new dimension to care, adding to the complexities of multidisciplinary team working in the management of HCC. The aim of this paper is to give a brief overview of present day management strategies and decision making.

scholarly journals Locoregional Therapy Approaches for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Recent Advances and Management Strategies

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina S. Makary ◽  
Umang Khandpur ◽  
Jordan M. Cloyd ◽  
Khalid Mumtaz ◽  
Joshua D. Dowell
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Transarterial Embolization ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Locoregional Therapy ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Liver Malignancy ◽  
Curative Intent ◽  
Ablative Therapies ◽  
Recent Advances

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy and third leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. While surgical resection and transplantation are the standard first-line treatments for early-stage HCC, most patients do not fulfill criteria for surgery. Fortunately, catheter-directed and percutaneous locoregional approaches have evolved as major treatment modalities for unresectable HCC. Improved outcomes have been achieved with novel techniques which can be employed for diverse applications ranging from curative-intent for small localized tumors, to downstaging or bridging to resection and transplantation for early and intermediate disease, and locoregional control and palliation for advanced disease. This review explores recent advances in liver-directed techniques for HCC including bland transarterial embolization, chemoembolization, radioembolization, and ablative therapies, with a focus on patient selection, procedural technique, periprocedural management, and outcomes.

scholarly journals Is the Rationale of Anatomical Liver Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Universally Adoptable? A Hypothesis-Driven Review

Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Young-Jen Lin ◽  
Cheng-Maw Ho
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Surgical Resection ◽  
Tumor Recurrence ◽  
Hepatic Metastases ◽  
Vascular Supply ◽  
Tumor Ablation ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Margin Width

Surgical resection is the first-line curative treatment modality for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Anatomical resection (AR), described as systematic removal of a liver segment confined by tumor-bearing portal tributaries, may improve survival by reducing the risk of tumor recurrence compared with non-AR. In this article, we propose the rationale for AR and its universal adoption by providing supporting evidence from the advanced understanding of a tumor microenvironment and accumulating clinical experiences of locoregional tumor ablation therapeutics. AR may be advantageous because it completely removes the en-bloc by interrupting tumor vascular supply and thus extirpates the spreading of tumor microthrombi, if they ever exist, within the supplying portal vein. However, HCC is a hypervascular tumor that can promote neoangiogenesis in the local tumor microenvironment, which in itself can break through the anatomical boundary within the liver and even retrieve nourishment from extrahepatic vessels, such as inferior phrenic or omental arteries. Additionally, increasing clinical evidence for locoregional tumor ablation therapies, such as radiofrequency ablation, predominantly performed as a non-anatomical approach, suggests comparable outcomes for surgical resection, particularly in small HCC and colorectal, hepatic metastases. Moreover, liver transplantation for HCC, which can be considered as AR of the whole liver followed by implantation of a new graft, is not universally free from post-transplant tumor recurrence. Overall, AR should not be considered the gold standard among all surgical resection methods. Surgical resection is fundamentally reliant on choosing the optimal margin width to achieve en-bloc tumor niche removal while balancing between oncological radicality and the preservation of postoperative liver function. The importance of this is to liberate surgical resilience in hepatocellular carcinoma. The overall success of HCC treatment is determined by the clearance of the theoretical niche. Developing biomolecular-guided navigation device/technologies may provide surgical guidance toward the total removal of microscopic tumor niche to achieve superior oncological outcomes.

scholarly journals Incidence, Characteristics, and Prognosis of Incidentally Discovered Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Liver Transplantation

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walid El Moghazy ◽  
Samy Kashkoush ◽  
Glenda Meeberg ◽  
Norman Kneteman
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Transplantation ◽  
Tumor Recurrence ◽  
Patient Survival ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Liver Transplants ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
One Year ◽  
Over Time

Background. We aimed to assess incidentally discovered hepatocellular carcinoma (iHCC) over time and to compare outcome to preoperatively diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma (pdHCC) and nontumor liver transplants.Methods.We studied adults transplanted with a follow-up of at least one year. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.Results.Between 1990 and 2010, 887 adults were transplanted. Among them, 121 patients (13.6%) had pdHCC and 32 patients (3.6%) had iHCC; frequency of iHCC decreased markedly over years, in parallel with significant increase in pdHCC. Between 1990 and 1995, 120 patients had liver transplants, 4 (3.3%) of them had iHCC, and only 3 (2.5%) had pdHCC, while in the last 5 years, 263 patients were transplanted, 7 (0.03%) of them had iHCC, and 66 (25.1%) had pdHCC (P<0.001). There was no significant difference between groups regarding patient survival; 5-year survival was 74%, 75.5%, and 77.3% in iHCC, pdHCC, and non-HCC groups, respectively (P=0.702). Patients with iHCC had no recurrences after transplant, while pdHCC patients experienced 17 recurrences (15.3%) (P=0.016).Conclusions.iHCC has significantly decreased despite steady increase in number of transplants for hepatocellular carcinoma. Patients with iHCC had excellent outcomes with no tumor recurrence and survival comparable to pdHCC.

scholarly journals Clinical Characterisation and Management of the Main Treatment-Induced Toxicities in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Cirrhosis

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 584
Author(s):  
Fausto Meriggi ◽  
Massimo Graffeo
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Hepatic Impairment ◽  
Hepatic Cirrhosis ◽  
Disease Stage ◽  
The Past ◽  
Systemic Treatments ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Locoregional Therapies ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Selection Of

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to increase worldwide, particularly in Western countries. In almost all cases, HCC develops in subjects with hepatic cirrhosis, often as the result of hepatitis B or C virus infection, alcohol abuse or metabolic forms secondary to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Patients with HCC and hepatic symptoms can therefore present symptoms that are attributable to both conditions. These patients require multidisciplinary management, calling for close interaction between the hepatologist and the oncologist. Indeed, the treatment of HCC requires, depending on the disease stage and the degree of hepatic impairment, locoregional therapies that can in turn be broken down into surgical and nonsurgical treatments and systemic treatments used in the event of progression after the administration of locoregional treatments. The past decade has seen the publication of countless papers of great interest that have radically changed the scenario of treatment for HCC. Novel therapies with biological agents and immunotherapy have come to be standard options in the approach to treatment of this cancer, obtaining very promising results where in the past chemotherapy was almost never able to have an impact on the course of the disease. However, in addition to being costly, these drugs are not devoid of adverse effects and their management cannot forgo the consideration of the underlying hepatic impairment. Patients with HCC and cirrhosis therefore require special attention, starting from the initial characterisation needed for an appropriate selection of those to be referred for treatment, as these patients are almost never fit. In this chapter, we will attempt to investigate and clarify the key points of the management of the main toxicities induced by locoregional and systemic treatments for HCC secondary to cirrhosis.

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