The Current Status and Future Prospects for Conversion Therapy in the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In China, most HCC patients are diagnosed with advanced disease and in these cases surgery is challenging. Conversion therapy can be used to change unresectable HCC into resectable disease and is a potential breakthrough treatment strategy. The resection rate for unresectable advanced HCC has recently improved as a growing number of patients have benefited from conversion therapy. While conversion therapy is at an early stage of development, progress in patient selection, optimum treatment methods, and the timing of surgery have the potential to deliver significant benefits. In this article, we review the current evidence and clinical experience of conversion therapy in HCC. General conversion modalities such as systemic treatments (systemic chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy), locoregional therapy (transarterial chemoembolization, hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy, or selective internal radiation therapy), and combination therapy were summarized. We also discuss the current challenges of conversion therapy and provide identify areas for future research to improve the development of conversion therapy in advanced HCC.