Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Mar 2024)

The State of Systematic Therapies in Clinic for Hepatobiliary Cancers

  • Chen W,
  • Hu Z,
  • Li G,
  • Zhang L,
  • Li T

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 11
pp. 629 – 649

Abstract

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Weixun Chen,1 Zhengnan Hu,1 Ganxun Li,1 Lei Zhang,1 Tao Li2 1Hepatic Surgery Centre, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430022, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Tao Li; Lei Zhang, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Hepatobiliary cancer (HBC) includes hepatocellular carcinoma and biliary tract carcinoma (cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder carcinoma), and its morbidity and mortality are significantly correlated with disease stage. Surgery is the cornerstone of curative therapy for early stage of HBC. However, a large proportion of patients with HBC are diagnosed with advanced stage and can only receive systemic treatment. According to the results of clinical trials, the first-line and second-line treatment programs are constantly updated with the improvement of therapeutic effectiveness. In order to improve the therapeutic effect, reduce the occurrence of drug resistance, and reduce the adverse reactions of patients, the treatment of HBC has gradually developed from single-agent therapy to combination. The traditional therapeutic philosophy proposed that patients with advanced HBC are only amenable to systematic therapies. With some encouraging clinical trial results, the treatment concept has been revolutionized, and patients with advanced HBC who receive novel systemic combination therapies with multi-modality treatment (including surgery, transplant, TACE, HAIC, RT) have significantly improved survival time. This review summarizes the treatment options and the latest clinical advances of HBC in each stage and discusses future direction, in order to inform the development of more effective treatments for HBC.Keywords: hepatobiliary cancer, systemic treatment, combination therapies

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