What are the anti-liver cancer drugs

  Liver cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the world. According to the World Cancer Research Emergency 2015, there were 782,000 new cases of liver cancer diagnosed in 2012 alone. Survival figures for liver cancer have been unpromising, with statistics showing that the 5-year survival rate for liver cancer patients is only 17.6%.  Prior to this, there was only one approved systemic therapy for liver cancer (i.e., Bayer’s Dorgemet Nexavar).  Doximet (sorafenib) is an oral multi-targeted anticancer agent that is currently approved in liver, kidney, and thyroid cancer indications.  Doximet (sorafenib) is also the only targeted agent previously approved by the FDA for the systemic treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.  Adverse effects include pain (including gastrointestinal and abdominal pain), skin reactions in the hands and feet, fatigue, diarrhea, decreased appetite, high blood pressure, infection, difficulty speaking, high levels of bilirubin in the blood (jaundice), fever, mucosal inflammation, weight loss, rash, and nausea.  Serious risks include liver injury (hepatotoxicity), infection, hemorrhage, gastric or intestinal perforation, skin damage (dermatotoxicity), hypertension, cardiac blood flow problems (cardiac ischemia and infarction), temporary encephalopathy (reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome) and wound healing complications.