Research progress of vascular interventional therapy in the conversion therapy of hepato-cellular carcinoma

Primary liver cancer is the fourth most common malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer death in China, which poses a serious threat to the life and health of the Chinese people. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents more than 90% of the pathology of primary liver cancer, among them around 60% of patients are at the intermediate‑advanced stage when diagnosed. Therefore, increasing the rate of resection via conversion therapies is particularly important to improve the prognosis of these patients. Vascular interventional therapies represented by transarterial chemoembolization and hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy are important treatment methods for HCC patients in intermediate‑advanced stage, showing good rates of tumor response and surgical conversion. Combined with research data at home and abroad, the authors analyze research progress of vascular interventional therapy in the conversion therapy of HCC, review the history and the strategies of conversion therapies based on vascular interventional therapy in this article.