Feasibility of combining adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization with nucleos(t)ide analog therapy for patients with HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatectomy

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-associated mortalities, and its prevalence is expected to increase in future decades. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the leading cause of HCC. Although hepatectomy is the preferred curative treatment for HCC, tumor recurrence is common, which is the most frequent cause of mortality in patients with HCC. HCC recurrence may originate from the primary tumor or be associated with remnant liver tissue, and include high viral load and hepatic inflammatory activity. Adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization and postoperative nucleos(t)ide analogs therapy are the two corresponding therapies. Following systematic searching of the PubMed database, the indications for adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization and nucleos(t)ide analog therapies for HBV-related HCC after hepatectomy were acquired. Additionally, the feasibility of combining these two therapies were also reviewed.