Transarterial chemoembolization, ablation, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and immunotherapy (TATI): A novel treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors. Currently, the main effective treatment options for HCC include resection, liver transplantation, various percutaneous modalities (such as transarterial chemoembolization [TACE] and thermal ablation), and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Herein, we have proposed a novel therapy which consists of TACE, ablation, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and immunotherapy (TATI) for patients with advanced HCC). We reported the therapeutic effects of TATI in four patients with advanced HCC. All patients underwent TACE treatment at the beginning of disease diagnosis. During follow-up, all patients were treated with microwave ablation because of a residual tumor or recurrence. For tumor control, apatinib, a TKI, was administered after ablation. If the tumor was resistant to the TKI, we continued to apatinib therapy in combination with immunotherapy (camrelizumab). All the four patients had better survival benefits and no serious adverse effects.

Keywords: Ablation; hepatocellular carcinoma; immunotherapy; transarterial chemoembolization; tyrosine kinase inhibitors.