Review ArticleTreatment Response Evaluation and Follow-up in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Section snippets
Treatment response evaluation for hepatocellular carcinoma
The most important parameter for any cancer treatment response evaluation is overall survival. Nonetheless, tumor response and time-to-progression have been considered pivotal for surrogate assessment of efficacy.
Follow-up After Curative Treatment
After the initial response evaluation at 4 weeks, the further follow-up of patients who underwent resection or RFA should consist of the clinical evaluation of liver decompensation and the early detection of recurrence by dynamic CT or MRI studies every 3 months the first 2 years and surveillance every 6 months later on.12 In case of tumor recurrence after curative treatments, re-assessment of the patient should be done using the BCLC staging system and re-treatment should be planned
Conclusions
With the growing recognition that the treatment for HCC be tailored to suit the needs of each individual patient, an early and accurate assessment of tumor response to therapy is mandatory. An ideal imaging modality should be able to detect an immediate response to any therapeutic regimen in one examination. Since liver directed therapies and newer targeted drugs induce biologic changes much earlier than size-based alterations in tumor burden, reliance on tumor viability for response assessment
Conflicts of interest
All authors have none to declare.
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