Liu QJ, Zhang JC, Wang YF, Zou MH, Zhou WX, Lu Y, Feng XC, Liu H. Correlation of radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy with hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2025; 17(7): 107815 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i7.107815]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Hui Liu, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, The Third Department of Hepatic Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, the Naval Medical University, No. 225 Changhai Road, Shanghai 200082, China. liuhuigg@hotmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2025; 17(7): 107815 Published online Jul 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i7.107815
Correlation of radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy with hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence
Qian-Jia Liu, Jia-Cheng Zhang, Yue-Fan Wang, Ming-Hao Zou, Wen-Xuan Zhou, Yan Lu, Xiao-Chen Feng, Hui Liu
Qian-Jia Liu, Jia-Cheng Zhang, Yue-Fan Wang, Ming-Hao Zou, Wen-Xuan Zhou, Yan Lu, Xiao-Chen Feng, Hui Liu, The Third Department of Hepatic Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Shanghai 200082, China
Co-first authors: Qian-Jia Liu and Jia-Cheng Zhang.
Co-corresponding authors: Xiao-Chen Feng and Hui Liu.
Author contributions: Liu H and Feng XC contributed to the conception of this manuscript, the tables and the figure; Liu QJ and Zhang JC co-authored this review; Wang YF, Zou MG, Zhou WX, Lu Y provided suggestions and revised this review; Liu QJ and Zhang JC have made equal contributions to the drafting of the manuscript and the organization of the literature as co-first authors of this manuscript; Liu H and Feng XC have made equal contributions to the conception and revision of the manuscript and as co-corresponding authors; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82270634; and Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University, No. tf2024yzyy01.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui Liu, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, The Third Department of Hepatic Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, the Naval Medical University, No. 225 Changhai Road, Shanghai 200082, China. liuhuigg@hotmail.com
Received: April 1, 2025 Revised: April 30, 2025 Accepted: June 19, 2025 Published online: July 15, 2025 Processing time: 107 Days and 20.3 Hours
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors globally and is the most prevalent type of primary liver cancer, posing a heavy burden on global health. Surgical resection and liver transplantation are the gold standard for the radical treatment of HCC. However, due to the heterogeneity and high invasiveness of HCC, the rates of local and distant recurrence are extremely high, with over 70% of patients experiencing recurrence within 5 years after treatment, significantly impacting the long-term quality of life. Therefore, researchers are exploring other treatment methods to reduce tumor recurrence and improve patient survival. To date, extensive research has concentrated on new alternative therapies, including radiotherapy (e.g., selective internal radiotherapy), targeted drug therapy (e.g., sorafenib and lenvatinib), and immunotherapy (e.g., immune checkpoint inhibitors), which have played an integral role in the comprehensive treatment of HCC. This review mainly focuses on the cutting-edge advancements in these treatment methods for HCC and their potential role in reducing HCC recurrence.
Core Tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent cancer worldwide, ranking as the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Despite advancements in treatment modalities, a significant proportion of patients with HCC (50%-70%) experience tumor recurrence within 5 years of initial treatment. This review focuses on the roles of radiotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy in managing post-surgical HCC recurrence and their combined effects.
