Published in:
01-04-2008 | Gastrointestinal Oncology
Radiotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An Overview
Authors:
Sunil Krishnan, MD, Laura A. Dawson, MD, Jinsil Seong, MD, Yasuyuki Akine, MD, Sam Beddar, PhD, Tina M. Briere, PhD, Christopher H. Crane, MD, Francoise Mornex, MD, PhD
Published in:
Annals of Surgical Oncology
|
Issue 4/2008
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Excerpt
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world (>600,000 new cases per year) and the third most common cause of cancer-related death (∼600,000 deaths per year).
1 Although HCC is predominantly a problem in the Eastern world, the increasing incidence of hepatitis C is likely to increase its incidence in the Western world.
2 HCC is one of the few cancers with an increase in frequency and mortality in the United States, accounting for at least 16,000 deaths yearly, ranking sixth as a cause of cancer mortality in men, and with a 40% increase in mortality between 1990 and 2003.
3 This increase in incidence of HCC in the Western world has not been matched by improvements in survival for this cancer. Less than 20% of patients with HCC are candidates for resection or transplantation, the traditional curative treatment modalities used in this disease.
2,
4 Successful treatment of HCC poses a unique challenge because HCC often manifests as a disease with two faces: the malignant tumor with a propensity to invade vascular structures, and the diseased cirrhotic liver that harbors the malignant tumor and often other premalignant areas that are at risk for progression to overt malignant tumor. …
