Consensus recommendations and review by an International Expert Panel on Interventions in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (<scp>EPOIHCC</scp>)

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Hepatocellular carcinoma (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">HCC</jats:styled-content>) presents with a high burden of disease in East Asian countries. Intermediate‐stage <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">HCC</jats:styled-content> as defined by the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">BCLC</jats:styled-content>) staging system poses a clinical challenge as it includes a heterogeneous population of patients that can vary widely in terms of tumour burden, liver function and disease aetiology. Intermediate <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">HCC</jats:styled-content> patients often have unsatisfactory clinical outcomes with repeated transarterial chemoembolization (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TACE</jats:styled-content>, due to non‐response of the target tumour or the development of further metastasis indicating progressive disease. In September 2011, an Expert Panel Opinion on Interventions in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">EPOIHCC</jats:styled-content>) was convened in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">HK</jats:styled-content> in an attempt to provide a consensus on the practice of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TACE</jats:styled-content>. To that end, current clinical practice throughout Asia was reviewed in detail including safety and efficacy data on <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TACE</jats:styled-content> alone as well as in combination with targeted systemic therapies. This review summarises the evidence discussed at the meeting and provides expert recommendation regarding the available therapeutic options for unresectable intermediate stage <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">HCC</jats:styled-content>. A key consensus of the Expert Panel was that in order to improve patient outcomes and long‐term survival, the possibility of using <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TACE</jats:styled-content> in combination with targeted agents given systemically should be explored. While the currently available clinical data is promising, the expected completion of several pivotal phase <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">II</jats:styled-content> and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">III RCT</jats:styled-content>s will provide further evidence in support of the rationale for combination therapy regimens.</jats:p>