Research progress of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy in the conversion therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

Primary liver cancer is the fourth most common malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer death in China, posing a serious threat to the health of Chinese people. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents more than 90% of primary liver cancers, among them 66% of patients are with intermediate-advanced HCC. Therefore, prevention strategies and conversion therapies to patients with intermediate-advanced HCC are particularly important. Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) is one of the important treatment methods to treat intermediate-advanced HCC. The tumor objective response rates and surgery conversion rates of HAIC-based conversion therapies are promising. The authors review the history of HAIC and the HAIC-based conversion therapies in this article.