Adjuvant treatments for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma often recurs even after curative resection. Although some encouraging data showing improvements in recurrence-free times have been reported with the use of intraarterial 131I-lipiodol infusion, retinoids, interferon, or immunotherapy after hepatectomy, there is no consensus regarding standard adjuvant therapy for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma. A novel target agent, sorafenib, which has recently become a standard of care for advanced disease, may also be promising in an adjuvant setting to prevent early recurrence after curative surgery. In future trials, it will be important to identify appropriate target populations for each type of adjuvant approach; that is, an agent with definitive antitumor activity for high-risk patients, and one that shows chemoprevention for low-risk patients.