Therapeutic response assessment of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma: ultrasonography, CT and MR imaging.

Two randomized controlled trials identified that transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) shows a significant survival benefit compared with controls, after a long-term controversy. Thus, TACE is the current standard of care for patients presenting with multinodular HCC. Monitoring tumor response to TACE is part of the clinical management of HCC patients. Imaging, including ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, has an important role in assessing therapeutic effects earlier and more objectively. Imaging assessment needs to detect not only a reduction in overall tumor load but also a reduction in viable tumor. Here, we give an overview of the current status of the imaging assessment of HCC response to TACE.