Abstract

Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) present with advanced stage tumors at the time of initial diagnosis, only about 30%, who present with early stage tumors, undergo radical therapies such as resection, liver transplantation, and percutaneous ablation. Thus, over 50% of HCC patients receive palliative treatments. The newly developed, molecularly targeted agents, sorafenib is the first agent that has shown significant survival benefits for European and American patients with advanced HCC and sets the new standard for the first-line treatment of these patients. The role of sorafenib and other promising agents should be examined in the adjuvant setting after RFA, TACE, surgical resection or selective settings in liver transplantation in an attempt to improve further the outcomes of these patients.

• Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma;Treatment;Targeted therapy