Chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: where does the truth lie?

摘要: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most highly lethal cancers in world. It continues to be plagued by a shortage effective therapeutic options and consequently is major cause death, especially eastern Asia sub-Saharan Africa. In United States, incidence HCC has been rapidly steadily increasing past 20 years because concomitant epidemic rise hepatitis C virus infection. Surgical resection liver transplantation offer only chance for cure, but, unfortunately, tumors patients are found unresectable at presentation therefore left with palliative only. Of those, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization widely used over become mainstay therapy HCC. Yet, controversy surrounded its efficacy impact on patient survival. After period initial enthusiasm followed encouraging results from retrospective prospective studies, several randomized trials failed show any survival advantage supportive care. So where does truth lie? The publication this year two separate high-quality trials, Hepatology Hong Kong other Lancet Spain, should help answer question finally establish usefulness as an against