Conversion therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma: some pivotal issues to be resolved

Abstract

Progress in the systemic therapies, represented by the molecular target therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), have significantly improved the prognosis of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), but long term survial remains limitted. As one of the major combination of systemic and surgical therapies, conversion therapy provides potentially curative opportunity to some uHCC patients. It is widely reported from different domestic centers.The first Chinese expert consensus about it was released in 2021. Yet at the same time, there are many key issues in the practice and theory remains to be resolved. Actively thinking, exploring and finally resolving these issues are essential for establishing and promoting the standardized theoretical system of uHCC conversion therapy.

Keywords

• |hepatocellular carcinoma|conversion therapy|target therapy|immune checkpoint inhibitor (ici)|systemic therapy|surgical resection