Non-surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Several non-surgical local ablation methods for the treatment of hepotocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been developed. Among them, percutoneous ethanol injection is worldwide an accepted alternative to surgery in patients with small HCCs. Other local minimal-invasive teatment options, like one time radio-frequency thermal ablation seem to result in more effective tumor control. Randomized controlled trials showed no survival benefit after transarterial chemoembolization and its variants for the treatment of local advanced HCCs. Effective chemotherapy is not available for metastasized or advanced HCCs. The role of novel techniques for the treatment of HCC has to be carefully determined in large controlled clinical studies.