September 2016

The paradigm-changing findings of the phase III RESORCE trial will likely lead researchers to change how they treat patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the second-line setting, according to Richard Finn, MD.

After 9 years of failed trials for once-promising drugs, regorafenib (Stivarga) has emerged as the clear choice for second-line therapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after demonstrating survival improvements for patients whose disease has progressed after systemic treatment, according to liver cancer experts.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) continues to post “highly encouraging’” and durable responses in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) regardless of whether they had hepatitis B or C or whether they had received prior treatment with sorafenib (Nexavar), according to the lead investigator on the early-phase study.

The jury is still out on whether stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) should truly be considered a preferred frontline treatment modality for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are not candidates for surgery, despite an ever-growing body of evidence supporting this approach.

The immune system performs a complex role in the development and growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to evidence from preclinical and clinical studies that are beginning to unravel the cellular components that link cytokines and inflammation with hepatocarcinogenesis.

Technological advances and greater understanding of stem cell biology have contributed to the identification and characterization of the tissues and organs involved with these cells.