New Treatments & Clinical Trials for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer, often developing in people with chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or cirrhosis from any cause. Treatment depends on tumor size, liver function, and whether cancer has spread. Options include surgery, ablation, embolization, targeted drugs, and immunotherapy combinations that have changed outcomes significantly in recent years.

What's actually going on in research

Trials are testing immunotherapy combinations that attack cancer in multiple ways, targeted drugs that block specific growth signals, locoregional therapies that deliver treatment directly to tumors, and earlier use of systemic treatments to prevent recurrence after surgery. Researchers are also studying ways to predict which tumors will respond to immunotherapy and how to treat people whose liver function is too poor for current drugs.

What to know before you search

Eligibility typically depends on liver function (Child-Pugh score), extent of disease, prior treatments, hepatitis status, and performance status.

What types of trials are currently open

• First-line treatment trials — Testing new immunotherapy combinations or targeted drugs as the first systemic treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma that can't be removed surgically.
• Second-line trials — Testing treatments for people whose cancer grew despite initial therapy, often comparing new drugs to cabozantinib or regorafenib.
• Adjuvant trials — Testing whether immunotherapy or targeted drugs after surgery, ablation, or embolization can prevent cancer from returning.
• Locoregional trials — Testing embolization techniques that deliver chemotherapy or radiation beads directly into liver tumors, sometimes combined with immunotherapy.
• Biomarker studies — Looking for blood or tumor markers that predict which people will respond to immunotherapy or targeted drugs.