Adjuvant Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Curative Treatment: Several Unanswered Questions

Abstract

Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have a poor prognosis. Hepatectomy and local ablation are the main curative treatments for HCC. Nevertheless, the recurrence rate after hepatectomy or ablation is up to 70%, which seriously affects patient prognosis. Several adjuvant therapies have been explored to reduce postoperative recurrence. However, although a variety of adjuvant therapies have been shown to reduce the recurrence rate and improve overall survival, a standard consensus of national HCC guidelines for adjuvant treatment is lacking. Therefore, there are significant differences in the recommendations for adjuvant therapy for HCC between the Eastern and Western guidelines. A variety of adjuvant treatment methods, such as antiviral therapy, transarterial chemoembolization or traditional Chinese medicine, are recommended by the Chinese HCC guidelines. However, Western guidelines make few recommendations other than antiviral therapy. Adjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors are recommended only in the recently updated American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases guidelines. This review summarized the existing adjuvant therapy options after curative hepatectomy or ablation and discusses several important dilemmas of adjuvant treatments.

Keywords: Adjuvant therapy; Curative hepatectomy; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Immune checkpoint inhibitor; Overall survival; Recurrence.

Fig. 1. Follow-up and surveillance, recurrent modality, and adjuvant treatment strategy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative hepatectomy or local ablation.

ICI, immune checkpoint inhibitor.