Shimose S, Iwamoto H, Tanaka M, et al. - In patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), prevention of stage progression and prolongation of overall survival (OS) were achieved due to administration of molecular-targeted agents (MTAs) in such cases.

• A retrospective analysis of 289 intermediate-stage HCC patients who received initial trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE).

• Two groups were formed, one wherein MTAs were given to cases refractory to TACE (n = 65) and another in which MTAs were not given (n = 65) at intermediate-stage HCC after propensity score matching.

• Significantly longer time to stage progression (TTSP) and OS were seen in patients who received MTA vs those who did not (TTSP: 36.4 vs 17.9 months; median survival time [MST]: 44.6 vs 26.6 months).

• Independent factors for TTSP and OS were: within the up-to-seven criteria and administration of MTAs at the intermediate-stage HCC.

• Significantly longer TTSP and OS were achieved in the era of the multi-MTA group vs those in the era of the mono-MTA group (TTSP: 44.8 vs 27.4 months; MST: 53.4 vs 33.3 months).