Hepatocellular Carcinoma: New Treatments and Guidelines in Asia-Pacific

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a big problem in the Asia-Pacific region. It causes more than 600, 000 deaths each year, making up over 70% of global cases. Doctors face two major challenges: preventing HCC from coming back after surgery, liver transplants, or local treatments, and slowing down the disease in patients who can't have surgery or have failed local treatments. In recent years, new medications like targeted therapies and immune-checkpoint inhibitors have been approved as systemic treatments to tackle these issues. These treatments can be used as first-line or second-line options for patients with advanced HCC who can't have local treatments. Plus, there's new evidence showing that systemic therapies can help prevent HCC from coming back after surgery or local treatments, and slow down the disease progression after local treatments fail.

Looking ahead, doctors expect more use of immune-checkpoint inhibitors and other immunotherapies to change how HCC is managed. They're also learning more about how to handle side effects from immunotherapy, which helps them better treat patients with HCC. This new guideline aims to give up-to-date advice based on clinical evidence and the experiences of top doctors in the Asia-Pacific region. It answers three key questions: Who should be considered for systemic therapy? Which therapy should be used? And how should patients on immune checkpoint-based systemic therapy be managed and monitored?

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