Austrian Joint OGGH-OGIR-OGHO-ASSO position statement on the use of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in hepatocellular carcinoma

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequently applied standard treatments for this disease. The role for TACE is fairly well defined within the most widely used treatment algorithm for HCC, die Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system and treatment algorithm. But no general treatment algorithm will go into the technical details of any procedure and several patients will not fit ideally into the patient groups predefined in BCLC or any other treatment algorithm. Furthermore, indications and contraindications sometimes are viewed differently by the various medical specialties involved in taking care of such patients. We present here the joint expert position statement of the Austrian Societies of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (OGGH), Interventional Radiology (OGIR), Hematology and Oncology (OGHO), and Surgical Oncology (ASSO) on the technical aspects, indications, and contraindication for the use of TACE in the management of HCC.