In 2024, Dr. Ted Yanagihara traveled to Barcelona with Dr. Andrew Moon (UNC Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology). They met with the Barcelona Clínic Liver Cancer (BCLC) group to review a unique database of approximately 5,000 patients from different countries, all of whom had been treated with radiation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). That international collaboration has yielded key updates to the BCLC guidelines for liver cancer treatment.
Dr. Yanagihara said, “This has been a tremendous, multi-institutional collaboration that I have been very fortunate to be involved with and we are excited to see external beam radiation (EBRT) as a recommended treatment for select patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. In prior guidelines, EBRT has not been included in the core treatment algorithm, and this update represents a recognition of increasing data and general acceptance of EBRT as a safe and effective ablative therapy for HCC.”
Dr. Yanagihara (second row, left) and the BCLC group. Photo courtesy of BCLC.