Recent Advances in Ablative Therapies for HCC

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cause of cancer worldwide and ranks third in terms of cancer related mortality. The management options for earlystage HCC include surgical resection, liver transplantation and percutaneous imageguided ablation. However, majority of the patients are not appropriate candidates for liver transplantation or surgical resection. Thus, image-guided tumour ablation has evolved as an accepted curative management option for these patients, according to most of the HCC management guidelines, due to its less invasive nature and proven efficacy. The aim of this article is to review the currently available data and the latest techniques for percutaneous ablation of HCC.

Keywords: Irreversible electroporation therapy; ablation techniques; carcinoma hepatocellular; cryosurgery; radiofrequency ablation.