94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
MINI REVIEW article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Surgical Oncology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1531852
This article is part of the Research Topic Extending the Limit of Liver Cancer Treatment with Surgical Options View all 4 articles
Neoadjuvant Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma – Priming Precision Innovations to Transform HCC Treatment
Provisionally accepted- 1 University of Washington, Seattle, United States
- 2 Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York, United States
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing in prevalence globally, and cure remains limited with non-operative treatment. Surgical intervention, through resection or transplantation, offers a potential for cure for select patients. However, many patients present with advanced or unresectable disease, and recurrence rates remain high. Recent advances in systemic therapies, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors, have demonstrated promise in treating unresectable HCC and as adjuvant therapy. Evidence from adjuvant trials highlights the synergistic potential of combined liver-directed and systemic therapies. These findings have ignited growing interest in neoadjuvant therapy across various scenarios: (1) as a bridging strategy while awaiting transplantation, (2) for downstaging disease to enable transplantation, (3) for converting unresectable disease to a resectable state, or (4) as neoadjuvant treatment in operable cases. Early-stage trials of neoadjuvant therapy in resectable HCC have reported promising outcomes. To realize the potential of neoadjuvant treatment for HCC, thoughtfully designed, adequately powered, multi-center clinical trials are essential.
Keywords: Neoajuvant therapy, Hepatocellar carcinoma, Unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, Immunotherapy, targeted therapy
Received: 21 Nov 2024; Accepted: 18 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Goodsell, Tao and Park. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Kristin E. Goodsell, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Alice J. Tao, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.