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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Jan 27, 2015; 7(1): 40-43
Published online Jan 27, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i1.40
Review of preoperative transarterial chemoembolization for resectable hepatocellular carcinoma
Zhi-Hui Gao, Dou-Sheng Bai, Guo-Qing Jiang, Sheng-Jie Jin
Zhi-Hui Gao, Dou-Sheng Bai, Guo-Qing Jiang, Sheng-Jie Jin, Hepato-bilio-pancreatic Surgery Department, Subei People’s Hospital, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225001, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Gao ZH and Bai DS performed the majority of the work for this review; Bai DS designed the review; Gao ZH wrote the manuscript; Jiang GQ and Jin SJ assisted with designing, literature searching and manuscript editing.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dou-Sheng Bai, MD, Professor, Chief, Hepato-bilio-pancreatic Surgery Department, Subei People’s Hospital, Yangzhou University, 98 Nantong West Road, Yangzhou 225001, Jiangsu Province, China. bdsno1@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-514-87373375 Fax: +86-514-87990188
Received: July 20, 2014
Peer-review started: July 20, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: October 28, 2014
Accepted: November 17, 2014
Article in press: November 19, 2014
Published online: January 27, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common neoplasm and third most frequent cause of cancer deaths. Resection of HCC offers the only hope for a cure, yet post-resection recurrence is common. The effectiveness of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as a neoadjuvant therapy for resectable HCC has not been conclusively demonstrated. All published meta-analyses have consistently failed to demonstrate its effectiveness. We believe these articles have several limitations and TACE is theoretically helpful in multinodular or infiltrative types of HCC.