New Frontiers in the Medical Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver tumor, and it rates fourth as a cause of cancer-related death. The presence of underlying liver disease and poor chemosensitivity pose major treatment challenges in the management of HCC. However, in the last few years, the therapeutic scenario has substantially changed, and immunotherapy in the form of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs) has become an essential therapeutic strategy in this field.

Summary: After controversial results of monotherapy, ICPIs have been mainly investigated in association with antiangiogenic agents or as dual checkpoint inhibition. The combination of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab has become the new therapeutic standard for unresectable HCC. Currently, a number of ICPI-based combinations are being studied in phase III clinical trials as front-line therapy for advanced HCC, with growing interest in integration of early-stage disease management in the form of adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapies. With most of the trials investigating ICPIs as first-line treatment, the second-line scenario relies mainly on tyrosine kinase inhibitors, which however have not been formally trialed after ICPIs.

Key messages: In this review, we summarize the main therapeutic advances in the systemic management of HCC focusing on the most relevant ongoing trials. We also discuss the main issues arising from a such rapidly evolving field including therapeutic sequencing and patient stratification.