Review finds no established adjuvant systemic therapy for resected HCC

This review traces changes in surgical and perioperative HCC management, including resectability assessment and systemic therapy around curative-intent treatment. It discusses adjuvant and neoadjuvant studies in the context of frequent recurrence after resection or other curative-intent approaches; the supplied text does not report a new patient cohort or a pooled analysis.

The review notes that sorafenib did not improve outcomes after resection or ablation in STORM. In IMbrave050, an early recurrence-free survival advantage with adjuvant atezolizumab plus bevacizumab was not sustained with longer follow-up; KEYNOTE-937 did not demonstrate benefit with adjuvant pembrolizumab. Early-phase neoadjuvant studies showed feasibility and pathologic responses, while CARES-009 provided randomized phase III evidence of improved event-free survival with a perioperative immune checkpoint inhibitor–antiangiogenic strategy.

The authors conclude that no adjuvant systemic therapy is established for broad use, and that emerging perioperative strategies may benefit selected patients. They identify biomarker-based selection and further trials as priorities. The source is a review rather than a new trial report; the supplied material gives no effect-size estimates for CARES-009, so the findings do not establish a treatment recommendation for all patients.