Locoregional treatment approaches for hepatocellular carcinoma – a case report

Abstract

A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver malignancy, often arising in the setting of chronic liver disease. Incidence of this carcinoma is increasing at a great rate. Disease often manifests asymptomatically and to make the final diagnosis is often challenging. Screening of patients at risk is based on ultrasound (US) examinations, which in the setting of suspicion lesion findings often converts to multiphasic computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures for advanced disease evaluation. The selection of treatment modality depends on tumor size and location, extrahepatic spread and subsequent liver disease. For years the first line of treatment was liver resection and transplantation. Locoregional therapy is a novel approach to diverse stages of HCC with good response and higher overall survival rates, especially in early stages. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the method of choice in patients with multifocal HCC and maintained liver function, unsuitable for surgical treatment. We present a patient with HCC in the setting of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, treated with combined methods of locoregional therapy.