Expert consensus on clinical trials for use of systemic therapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing surgical and locoregional therapies.
Consensus recommends designing HCC clinical trials with specific patient selection, endpoints, and comparator arms to evaluate systemic therapies effectively in surgical and locoregional settings.
- Why it matters: Addressing the heterogeneity of early- and intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma is crucial to develop effective treatments and improve patient outcomes, filling a significant research gap.
- What they did: A multidisciplinary panel of experts reviewed and approved nine consensus statements for perioperative and combination therapies, emphasizing patient stratification, treatment duration, and relevant endpoints, with >70% agreement.
- The result: Implementing these guidelines will enable more rigorous and comparable trials, advancing the evaluation of systemic therapies' roles in HCC management and potentially improving survival outcomes.