Medical treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: Going beyond sorafenib

Table 1 Molecularly targeted agents currently tested in HCC

Agent		Targets	Development stage
Sorafenib (BAY 43-9006)	Small molecule	VEGFR-2 e -3, PDGFR-β, Raf	Registered
Sunitinib (SUO11248)	Small molecule	VEGFR-1, e 2 (-3), PDGFR-α e-β, Flt-3, C-Kit, RET	Phase II
Vatalanib (PTK787/ZK222584)	Small molecule	VEGFR-1, -2 e-3, PDGFR, C-Kit, c-Fms	Phase II
Cediranib (AZD2171)	Small molecule	VEGFR-1, -2 e-3, C-Kit	Phase II
Brivanib (BMS-582664)	Small molecule	VEGFR-2, FGFR-1	Phase II
Bevacizumab	Monoclonal antibody	VEGF-A	Phase II
Gefinitib (ZD1839)	Small molecule	EGFR/ErbB1/Her1	Phase II
Erlotinib (OSI774)	Small molecule	EGFR/ErbB1/Her1	Phase II
Lapatinib (GW572016)	Small molecule	EGFR/ErbB1/Her1, ErbB2/Her2neu	Phase II
Cetuximab	Monoclonal antibody	EGFR/ErbB1/Her1	Phase II
Everolimus (RAD001)	Small molecule	mTOR	Phase I/II
Bortezomib	Small molecule	Proteasome	Phase I/II
Belinostat (PXD101)	Small molecule	Histone-deacetylase (HDAC)	Phase II
AZD6244	Small molecule	MEK	Phase II
PI-88	Small molecule	Eparanase	Phase III
TAC-101	Small molecule	RAR-α	Phase II

VEGFR: Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors; PDGFR: Platelet-derived growth factor receptors; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; EGFR: Epidermal growth factor receptor; HDAC: Histone-deacetylase; mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma.