Fighting the bushfire in HCC trials

Until recently, few options for systemic therapy have been available for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, significant benefits have now been demonstrated for the kinase inhibitor sorafenib [1] that have led to its approval for HCC therapy in the palliative setting. This has dramatically increased the previously timid interest of drug companies for HCC, and indeed there are now on their way more than 50 phase I–III clinical trials employing more or less targeted substances. This is certainly a positive development in the interest of HCC patients and clinical liver cancer research.