Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common malignancy and
the third commonest cause of tumor associated death worldwide. The incidence of HCC
is increasing worldwide in both developing and developed countries. There are three
potentially curative treatments for HCC: resection, liver transplantation and
radiofrequency ablation. However, these are only suitable for patients meeting strict
pre-defined criteria with compensated liver disease and small tumors. Patients who are
not suitable for these therapies can be treated by loco-ablative or systemic therapies.
Sorafenib, is the first and only systemic therapy that has been approved by regulatory
agencies and demonstrated a survival benefit for patients with advanced HCC. In this
chapter we review current therapy choices and focus on pipeline therapeutic options for
advanced HCC, especially biological therapies.
Keywords: Biological therapies, chemoembolization, hepatocellular carcinoma,
liver transplantation, loco-ablative therapies, radiofrequency ablation, resection,
Sorafenib.
