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Recent Progress in Systemic Therapy for Hepatocellular Cancer (HCC)

  • Liver (J Bajaj, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of review

The management of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has drastically changed in the past few years with approval of several first-line and second-line systemic therapies. In this review, we present an overview of the recent progress in the treatment of advanced HCC and discuss future perspectives.

Recent findings

The phase 3 clinical trial IMBRAVE150 has recently shown the combination of an immune checkpoint inhibitor, atezolizumab, with an antiangiogenic agent, bevacizumab, to be superior to sorafenib monotherapy for treatment-naive advanced HCC. Moreover, patients now have multiple options available in second-line therapy including targeted therapies like sorafenib, lenvatinib, regorafenib, cabozantinib, and ramucirumab and immunotherapies like atezolizumab and nivolumab either alone or combined with ipilimumab.

Summary

There has been tremendous recent progress in the management of advanced HCC. Combination therapy with atezolizumab–bevacizumab has recently become the standard first-line therapy for patients with advanced HCC. Additionally, immunotherapy agents are poised to play a significant role in the management of HCC either alone or in combination with molecular targeted therapies.

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  1. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    T. Tara Ghaziani MD & Renumathy Dhanasekaran MD

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  1. T. Tara Ghaziani MD
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Correspondence to Renumathy Dhanasekaran MD.

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Both T. Tara Ghaziani and Renumathy Dhanasekaran declare no competing interests.

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Ghaziani, T.T., Dhanasekaran, R. Recent Progress in Systemic Therapy for Hepatocellular Cancer (HCC). Curr Treat Options Gastro 19, 351–368 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11938-021-00346-x

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