Thérapies ciblées dans le carcinome hépatocellulaire: indications et perspectives.

For decades, therapeutic management of advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was hampered by marginal and limited benefit of conventional chemotherapy. HCC is a highly vascularised tumor, in which angiogenesis plays a major role in all stages of the disease, and resulted in a rational use of antiangiogenic therapies. Moreover, several tyrosine-kinase receptors have been implicated in the proliferation and invasion of HCC, including vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR). Recently, the approval of sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, as an efficient therapy for advanced-stage HCC sparked an interest in evaluating new antiangiogenic therapies in the initial and advanced stages of the disease. Currently, several molecules are investigated in preclinical studies and clinical trials with disparate results, with the hope to identify new efficient therapies, thereby opening new prospects and raising several questions and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]