Adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence after liver cancer resection

The main means of treating liver cancer is surgery, but even with radical resection, more than half of the patients can suffer from cumulative recurrence within 5 years. Therefore, adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence of liver cancer is very important. The purpose of adjuvant therapy after liver cancer surgery is to reduce the risk of postoperative recurrence. Currently, commonly used methods are hepatic artery embolization chemotherapy and the use of interferon.

Hepatic arterial chemoembolization

The commonly used auxiliary treatment method after liver cancer surgery is hepatic artery embolization chemotherapy. However, hepatic artery embolization chemotherapy has a disadvantage, that is, it has a certain damage to liver function. Therefore, there has been controversy in China as to whether this treatment method should be used after radical liver cancer surgery. However, there is a consensus that for patients with a high risk of postoperative recurrence, 1 to 2 hepatic artery embolization chemotherapy should be performed. If it is a small liver cancer with a single nodule and no vascular invasion, there is no need for auxiliary hepatic artery embolization chemotherapy, especially for small liver cancers with severe cirrhosis. Hepatic artery embolization chemotherapy should be used with caution after surgery.

Interferon

Another auxiliary treatment method to prevent postoperative recurrence is the use of interferon. It has been proven that interferon can reduce the recurrence rate of liver cancer after surgery, and the adverse reactions of interferon are relatively small. Most patients can tolerate it and it usually takes 1 to 2 years to use. With the continuous progress of research, if there is a protein called P48 positive in the liver cancer specimens removed after surgery, the application effect will be better.