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Systemic Management for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Review of the Molecular Pathways of Carcinogenesis, Current and Emerging Therapies, and Novel Treatment Strategies

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Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arises from a number of cirrhosis-related and non-cirrhosis-related exposures and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Achieving a durable cure currently relies on either resection or transplantation, but since most patients will be diagnosed with inoperable disease, there is great interest in achieving more effective systemic therapies. At a molecular level, HCC is heterogeneous, but initial treatment strategies, including the use of multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors and checkpoint inhibitors, have been fairly homogenous, depending on general host factors and overall tumor burden rather than specific molecular signatures. Over the past 2 decades, however, there has been significant success in identifying key molecular targets, including driver mutations involving the telomerase reverse transcriptase, p53, and beta-catenin genes, and significant work is now being devoted to translating these discoveries into the development of robust and well-tolerated targeted therapies. Furthermore, multi-modal therapies have also begun to emerge, harnessing possible synergism amongst a variety of different treatment classes. As the findings of these landmark trials become available over the next several years, the landscape of the systemic management of advanced HCC will change significantly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Saad Saffo

  2. Section of Digestive Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, 1080 LMP, PO Box 208019, New Haven, CT, 06520-8019, USA

    Tamar H. Taddei

  3. VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA

    Tamar H. Taddei

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  1. Saad Saffo
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Saffo, S., Taddei, T.H. Systemic Management for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Review of the Molecular Pathways of Carcinogenesis, Current and Emerging Therapies, and Novel Treatment Strategies. Dig Dis Sci 64, 1016–1029 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05582-x

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