Abstract
Liver cancer incidence rate continues to increase and currently ranks third in the
total number of annual deaths, behind only lung and colorectal cancer. Most patients
with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are diagnosed at advanced stages, and they live
for less than 2 years after diagnosis on average. This contrasts with those diagnosed
at an early stage, who can be cured with surgery. However, even after curative resection,
there remains a risk of up to 70% of postoperative HCC recurrence. There have been
major changes in the management of HCC in the past 5 years, particularly for patients
at advanced stages. Despite this multitude of new therapies, there is a lack of clear
biomarkers to guide providers on the best approach to sequence therapies, which would
maximize efficacy while minimizing toxicity. There are several areas in clinical management
of HCC that are particularly challenging, and would benefit from development and implementation
of new biomarkers to improve patient overall survival. Here, we review the major advances
in liquid biopsy biomarkers for early detection of HCC, minimum residual disease,
and predicting response to treatment.
Keywords
hepatocellular carcinoma - liquid biopsy - early detection - minimum residual disease
