Pathological Complete Response after Systemic Therapy and Curative Resection in Initially Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Feasibility of a Tumor-Free with Drug-Free Strategy
Patients with uHCC who achieve pCR after systemic therapy and curative resection exhibit favorable long-term outcomes. Active surveillance yields comparable survival to adjuvant therapy with reduced toxicity. A "Tumor-Free with Drug-Free" strategy may be feasible in patients with normalized postoperative AFP levels, while those with persistent AFP positivity may represent a high-risk subgroup requiring individualized postoperative management.
Authors
- Dandan Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7905-8536)
- Yizhen Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1919-7176)
- Xiaohui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0544-2599)
- Zhenyun Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9526-7741)
- Wei Peng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1604-5110)
- Zili Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1987-730X)
- X. Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1962-6500)
- Jinbin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6619-1247)
- Keli Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0352-1018)
- Shunli Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3133-3508)
- Jun-Cheng Wang
- Zihan Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3104-3313)
- Ma Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4581-3454)
- Qiongyan Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1265-9091)
- Minshan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6116-5015)
- Yao‐Jun Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8357-5544)
- Zhong-Guo Zhou
- Fan Xie
Institutions
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (CN)
- Hunan Provincial People's Hospital (CN)
- Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital (CN)
- Guangzhou Medical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Liver Cancer
- Published
- 2025-11-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1159/000549793
- Primary Topic
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Sun Yat-sen University
- Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province