Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Feb 27;15(2):129-150.
doi: 10.4254/wjh.v15.i2.129.

Current status and prospect of treatments for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma

Yu-Qing Yang  1 , Zhen-Yu Wen  2 , Xiao-Yan Liu  3 , Zhen-Hu Ma  4 , Yan-E Liu  1 , Xue-Ying Cao  4 , Li Hou  4 , Hui Xie  5
Affiliations
Review

Current status and prospect of treatments for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma

Yu-Qing Yang et al. World J Hepatol. .

Abstract

Owing to its heterogeneous and highly aggressive nature, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high recurrence rate, which is a non-negligible problem despite the increasing number of available treatment options. Recent clinical trials have attempted to reduce the recurrence and develop innovative treatment options for patients with recurrent HCC. In the event of liver remnant recurrence, the currently available treatment options include repeat hepatectomy, salvage liver transplantation, tumor ablation, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, stereotactic body radiotherapy, systemic therapies, and combination therapy. In this review, we summarize the strategies to reduce the recurrence of high-risk tumors and aggressive therapies for recurrent HCC. Additionally, we discuss methods to prevent HCC recurrence and prognostic models constructed based on predictors of recurrence to develop an appropriate surveillance program.

Keywords: Hepatectomy; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver transplantation; Recurrence; Review; Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Suggested flowchart of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma management. SBRT: Stereotactic body radiotherapy; TACE: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Perz JF, Armstrong GL, Farrington LA, Hutin YJ, Bell BP. The contributions of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer worldwide. J Hepatol. 2006;45:529–538. - PubMed
    1. Kulik L, El-Serag HB. Epidemiology and Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Gastroenterology. 2019;156:477–491.e1. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yoh T, Seo S, Taura K, Iguchi K, Ogiso S, Fukumitsu K, Ishii T, Kaido T, Uemoto S. Surgery for Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Achieving Long-term Survival. Ann Surg. 2021;273:792–799. - PubMed
    1. Tiong L, Maddern GJ. Systematic review and meta-analysis of survival and disease recurrence after radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma. Br J Surg. 2011;98:1210–1224. - PubMed
    1. de'Angelis N, Landi F, Carra MC, Azoulay D. Managements of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation: A systematic review. World J Gastroenterol. 2015;21:11185–11198. - PMC - PubMed