Latest developments in targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

The advent of sorafenib can be considered as a turning point in the history of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. After unfortunate attempts at using chemotherapy, drugs targeting key pathways have generated new perspectives in this field. This means not only killing both tumor cells and cirrhotic fragile tissue, but killing them selectively; more than was previously possible. This seems like the Copernican Revolution. However, hepatocellular carcinoma is pathogenetically complicated, resulting from the number of mutations. Until now, there has not been a single drug able to block and reverse abnormally activated signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. In this article, we describe the most promising targeted drugs being studied in hepatocellular carcinoma and depict the possible future scenarios.