Frontiers in Biological Therapies for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Pp: 196-217 (22)

* (Excluding Mailing and Handling)

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy and the third commonest cause of tumor associated death worldwide. The incidence of HCC is increasing worldwide in both developing and developed countries. There are three potentially curative treatments for HCC: resection, liver transplantation and radiofrequency ablation. However, these are only suitable for patients meeting strict pre-defined criteria with compensated liver disease and small tumors. Patients who are not suitable for these therapies can be treated by loco-ablative or systemic therapies. Sorafenib, is the first and only systemic therapy that has been approved by regulatory agencies and demonstrated a survival benefit for patients with advanced HCC. In this chapter we review current therapy choices and focus on pipeline therapeutic options for advanced HCC, especially biological therapies.

Keywords: Biological therapies, chemoembolization, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, loco-ablative therapies, radiofrequency ablation, resection, Sorafenib.

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