New frontiers in transarterial chemoembolization: Combination with systemic therapies

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is one of the treatment most frequently used in patients with liver cancer, in particular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although the survival of patients treated by TACE has markedly improved over the last decades, the prognosis remains poor. Systemic treatment of HCC has become the focus of intensive research with combination of immunotherapies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors and antiangiogenic drugs. TACE combined with systemic therapies, such as in particular immunotherapies, have the potential to improve outcomes. Here we present the rationale for such combination and provide an overview of clinical achievements and ongoing research in this field.