# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/hepatocellular-carcinoma-treatment-and-prognosis/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis research in the Class of 2026?

Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, and sorafenib anchor the Class of 2026 HCC cohort, with combination immunotherapy, CTLA-4 inhibition, and locoregional-surgical themes co-prominent. From Class of 2025 to 2026, durvalumab–tremelimumab and pembrolizumab rose sharply while transarterial chemoembolization and VEGF inhibition receded among top-cited work.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 8,598 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor, sorafenib, combination immunotherapy, CTLA-4 inhibition |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 43–197 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Precision treatment in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma | Xupeng Yang, Chen Yang, Shu Zhang, Haigang Geng, Andrew X Zhu, René Bernards, Wenxin Qin, Jia Fan, Cun Wang, Qiang Gao | Jia Fan, Cun Wang, Qiang Gao | Fudan University, China | Cancer Cell | 197 | 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.01.007 |
| 2 | Four-year overall survival update from the phase III HIMALAYA study of tremelimumab plus durvalumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma | B Sangro, S L Chan, R K Kelley, G Lau, M Kudo, W Sukeepaisarnjaroen, M Yarchoan, E N De Toni, J Furuse, Y K Kang, P R Galle, L Rimassa, A Heurgué, V C Tam, T Van Dao, S C Thungappa, V Breder, Y Ostapenko, M Reig, M Makowsky, M J Paskow, C Gupta, J F Kurland, A Negro, G K Abou-Alfa, HIMALAYA investigators | B. Sangro | Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Spain | Annals of Oncology | 170 | 10.1016/j.annonc.2024.02.005 |
| 3 | Systemic Therapy for Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: ASCO Guideline Update | John D Gordan, Erin B Kennedy, Ghassan K Abou-Alfa, Eliza Beal, Richard S Finn, Terence P Gade, Laura Goff, Shilpi Gupta, Jennifer Guy, Hang T Hoang, Renuka Iyer, Ishmael Jaiyesimi, Minaxi Jhawer, Asha Karippot, Ahmed O Kaseb, R Kate Kelley, Jeremy Kortmansky, Andrea Leaf, William M Remak, Davendra P S Sohal, Tamar H Taddei, Andrea Wilson Woods, Mark Yarchoan, Michal G Rose | John D Gordan | University of California, San Francisco, United States | Journal of Clinical Oncology | 144 | 10.1200/jco.23.02745 |
| 4 | Nivolumab (NIVO) plus ipilimumab (IPI) vs lenvatinib (LEN) or sorafenib (SOR) as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC): First results from CheckMate 9DW. | Peter R. Galle, Thomas Decaens, Masatoshi Kudo, Shukui Qin, Leonardo Fonseca, Bruno Sangro, Hatim Karachiwala, Joong‐Won Park, Edward Gane, Matthias Pinter, David Tai, Armando Santoro, Gonzalo Pizarro, Chang‐Fang Chiu, Michael Schenker, Aiwu Ruth He, Qi Wang, Caitlyn Stromko, Joseph Hreiki, Thomas Yau | Peter R. Galle | University Medical Center Mainz, Germany | Journal of Clinical Oncology | 131 | 10.1200/jco.2024.42.17_suppl.lba4008 |
| 5 | EMERALD-1: A phase 3, randomized, placebo-controlled study of transarterial chemoembolization combined with durvalumab with or without bevacizumab in participants with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma eligible for embolization. | Riccardo Lencioni, Masatoshi Kudo, Joseph P. Erinjeri, Shukui Qin, Zhenggang Ren, Stephen L. Chan, Yasuaki Arai, Jeong Heo, Ahn Mai, José J. Escobar, Yamil Alonso Lopez Chuken, Jung‐Hwan Yoon, Won Young Tak, Tanita Suttichaimongkol, Mohamed Bouattour, Shi‐Ming Lin, Magdalena Żotkiewicz, Stephanie I. Udoye, Gordon Cohen, Bruno Sangro | Riccardo Lencioni | University of Pisa, Italy | Journal of Clinical Oncology | 121 | 10.1200/jco.2024.42.3_suppl.lba432 |
| 6 | Immune checkpoint inhibitors and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibody/tyrosine kinase inhibitors with or without transarterial chemoembolization as first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (CHANCE2201): a target trial emulation study | Zhi-Cheng Jin, Jian-Jian Chen, Xiao-Li Zhu, Xu-Hua Duan, Yu-Jing Xin, Bin-Yan Zhong, Jin-Zhang Chen, Jun Tie, Kang-Shun Zhu, Lan Zhang, Ming Huang, Ming-Jian Piao, Xiao Li, Hai-Bin Shi, Rui-Bao Liu, Ai-Bing Xu, Fanpu Ji, Jian-Bing Wu, Guo-Liang Shao, Hai-Liang Li, Ming-Sheng Huang, Zhi-Yi Peng, Jian-Song Ji, Chun-Wang Yuan, Xiu-Feng Liu, Zhou-Chao Hu, Wei-Zhu Yang, Guo-Wen Yin, Jin-Hua Huang, Nai-Jian Ge, Xiaolong Qi, Yang Zhao, Jia-Wei Zhou, Guo-Hui Xu, Qiang Tu, Hai-Lan Lin, Yao-Jun Zhang, Hua Jiang, Hai-Bo Shao, Yong-Jie Su, Ting-Song Chen, Bao-Qi Shi, Xiang Zhou, Hai-Tao Zhao, Hai-Dong Zhu, Zheng-Gang Ren, Gao-Jun Teng, CHANCE2201 Investigators | Gao‐Jun Teng, Gao-Jun Teng | Southeast University, China | EClinicalMedicine | 91 | 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102622 |
| 7 | Portal Venous and Hepatic Arterial Coefficients Predict Post-Hepatectomy Overall and Recurrence-Free Survival in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study | Yu-Kai Li, Song Wu, Yu-Shan Wu, Wei-Hu Zhang, Yan Wang, Yue-Hua Li, Qiang Kang, Song-Quan Huang, Kai Zheng, Gai-Ming Jiang, Qing-Bo Wang, Yu-Bo Liang, Jin Li, Yawhan Lakang, Chen Yang, Jing Li, Jia-Ping Wang, Xiang Kui, Yang Ke | Yu-Kai Li, Song Wu, Yu-Shan Wu, Wei-Hu Zhang, Yan Wang, Yue-Hua Li, Qiang Kang, Song-Quan Huang | Kunming Medical University, China | Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma | 87 | 10.2147/jhc.s462168 |
| 8 | The #HOPE4LIVER Single-Arm Pivotal Trial for Histotripsy of Primary and Metastatic Liver Tumors | Mishal Mendiratta-Lala, Philipp Wiggermann, Maciej Pech, Xavier Serres-Créixams, Sarah B White, Clifford Davis, Osman Ahmed, Neehar D Parikh, Mathis Planert, Maximilian Thormann, Zhen Xu, Zachary Collins, Govindarajan Narayanan, Guido Torzilli, Clifford Cho, Peter Littler, Tze Min Wah, Luigi Solbiati, Timothy J Ziemlewicz | Luigi Solbiati, Timothy J. Ziemlewicz | Humanitas University & Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital IRCCS, Italy | Radiology | 79 | 10.1148/radiol.233051 |
| 9 | Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy vs Sorafenib Alone in Hepatocellular Carcinoma | Laura A Dawson, Kathryn A Winter, Jennifer J Knox, Andrew X Zhu, Sunil Krishnan, Chandan Guha, Lisa A Kachnic, Michael T Gillin, Theodore S Hong, Timothy D Craig, Terence M Williams, Ali Hosni, Eric Chen, Anne M Noonan, Eugene J Koay, Rishi Sinha, Michael I Lock, Nitin Ohri, Jennifer A Dorth, Guila Delouya, Anand Swaminath, Jennifer Moughan, Christopher H Crane | Laura A. Dawson | University Health Network-Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada | JAMA Oncology | 74 | 10.1001/jamaoncol.2024.5403 |
| 10 | Pharmacogenomic profiling of intra-tumor heterogeneity using a large organoid biobank of liver cancer | Hui Yang, Jinghui Cheng, Hao Zhuang, Hongchuang Xu, Yinuo Wang, Tingting Zhang, Yinmo Yang, Honggang Qian, Yinying Lu, Feng Han, Lihua Cao, Nanmu Yang, Rong Liu, Xing Yang, Jiangong Zhang, Jianmin Wu, Ning Zhang | Jiangong Zhang, Jianmin Wu, Ning Zhang | Peking University First Hospital, China | Cancer Cell | 69 | 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.03.004 |
| 11 | Adjuvant sintilimab in resected high-risk hepatocellular carcinoma: a randomized, controlled, phase 2 trial | Kang Wang, Yan-Jun Xiang, Hong-Ming Yu, Yu-Qiang Cheng, Zong-Han Liu, Ying-Yi Qin, Jie Shi, Wei-Xing Guo, Chong-De Lu, Ya-Xin Zheng, Fei-Guo Zhou, Mao-Lin Yan, Hong-Kun Zhou, Chao Liang, Fan Zhang, Wen-Jing Wei, Wan Yee Lau, Jing-Jing Li, Yan-Fang Liu, Shu-Qun Cheng | Shuqun Cheng | Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, China | Nature Medicine | 69 | 10.1038/s41591-023-02786-7 |
| 12 | Trends in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Mortality Rates in the US and Projections Through 2040 | Sikai Qiu, Jiangying Cai, Zhanpeng Yang, Xinyuan He, Zixuan Xing, Jian Zu, Enrui Xie, Linda Henry, Custis R Chong, Esther M John, Ramsey Cheung, Fanpu Ji, Mindie H Nguyen | Fanpu Ji, Mindie H. Nguyen | The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China | JAMA Network Open | 66 | 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.45525 |
| 13 | Histological predictors of aggressive recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after liver resection | Carla Fuster-Anglada, Ezequiel Mauro, Joana Ferrer-Fàbrega, Berta Caballol, Marco Sanduzzi-Zamparelli, Jordi Bruix, Josep Fuster, María Reig, Alba Díaz, Alejandro Forner | Alba Díaz, Alejandro Forner | Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Spain | Journal of Hepatology | 64 | 10.1016/j.jhep.2024.06.018 |
| 14 | Intention-to-treat outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving immunotherapy before liver transplant: The multicenter VITALITY study | Parissa Tabrizian, Matthew L Holzner, Veeral Ajmera, Amy K Kim, Kali Zhou, Gabriel T Schnickel, Kelly Torosian, Maarouf Hoteit, Rebecca Marino, Michael Li, Francis Yao, Sander S Florman, Myron E Schwartz, Neil Mehta | Parissa Tabrizian | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States | Journal of Hepatology | 61 | 10.1016/j.jhep.2024.09.003 |
| 15 | Pathological response following neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a cross-trial, patient-level analysis | Antonio D'Alessio, Bernardo Stefanini, Julia Blanter, Benjamin Adegbite, Fionnuala Crowley, Vincent Yip, Sarah Slater, Claudia Angela Maria Fulgenzi, Ciro Celsa, Giulia Francesca Manfredi, Madhava Pai, Robert D Goldin, Stephen C Ward, Maria Isabel Fiel, Daniel H Shu, Yung-Yeh Su, Alessio Cortellini, Marina Baretti, Robert Anders, Mark Yarchoan, Chiun Hsu, Thomas U Marron, David J Pinato | David J. Pinato | Imperial College London, United Kingdom | The Lancet Oncology | 58 | 10.1016/s1470-2045(24)00457-1 |
| 16 | Nivolumab plus ipilimumab combination therapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma previously treated with sorafenib: 5-year results from CheckMate 040 | I Melero, T Yau, Y-K Kang, T-Y Kim, A Santoro, B Sangro, M Kudo, M-M Hou, A Matilla, F Tovoli, J Knox, A R He, B El-Rayes, M Acosta-Rivera, H Y Lim, S Soleymani, J Yao, J Neely, M Tschaika, C Hsu, A B El-Khoueiry | Ignacio Melero | Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Spain | Annals of Oncology | 52 | 10.1016/j.annonc.2024.03.005 |
| 17 | Radiofrequency Ablation Versus Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Recurrent Small Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Randomized, Open-Label, Controlled Trial | Mian Xi, Zhoutian Yang, Li Hu, Yizhen Fu, Dandan Hu, Zhongguo Zhou, Mengzhong Liu, Jing Zhao, Jingxian Shen, Qiaoqiao Li, Baoqing Chen, Li Xu, Aiping Fang, Minshan Chen, Shiliang Liu, Yaojun Zhang | Mian Xi | Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer, China | Journal of Clinical Oncology | 52 | 10.1200/jco-24-01532 |
| 18 | APASL clinical practice guidelines on systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma-2024 | George Lau, Shuntaro Obi, Jian Zhou, Ryosuke Tateishi, Shukui Qin, Haitao Zhao, Motoyuki Otsuka, Sadahisa Ogasawara, Jacob George, Pierce K H Chow, Jianqiang Cai, Shuichiro Shiina, Naoya Kato, Osamu Yokosuka, Kyoko Oura, Thomas Yau, Stephen L Chan, Ming Kuang, Yoshiyuki Ueno, Minshan Chen, Ann-Lii Cheng, Gregory Cheng, Wan-Long Chuang, Oidov Baatarkhuu, Feng Bi, Yock Young Dan, Rino A Gani, Atsushi Tanaka, Wasim Jafri, Ji-Dong Jia, Jia-Horng Kao, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, Patrick Lau, Jeong Min Lee, Jun Liang, Zhenwen Liu, Yinying Lu, Hongming Pan, Diana A Payawal, Salimur Rahman, Jinsil Seong, Feng Shen, Gamal Shiha, Tianqiang Song, Hui-Chuan Sun, Tsutomu Masaki, Ekaphop Sirachainan, Lai Wei, Jin Mo Yang, Jose D Sallano, Yanqiao Zhang, Tawesak Tanwandee, AKadir Dokmeci, Shu-Sen Zheng, Jia Fan, Sheung-Tat Fan, Shiv Kumar Sarin, Masao Omata | George Lau | Fudan University, China | Hepatology International | 49 | 10.1007/s12072-024-10732-z |
| 19 | Biomarkers and prognostic factors of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-based therapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma | Nan Zhang, Xu Yang, Mingjian Piao, Ziyu Xun, Yunchao Wang, Cong Ning, Xinmu Zhang, Longhao Zhang, Yanyu Wang, Shanshan Wang, Jiashuo Chao, Zhenhui Lu, Xiaobo Yang, Hanping Wang, Haitao Zhao | Hanping Wang | Peking Union Medical College Hospital, China | Biomarker Research | 45 | 10.1186/s40364-023-00535-z |
| 20 | Survival Outcomes Among Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a Large Integrated US Health System | Mignote Yilma, Richie Houhong Xu, Varun Saxena, Monica Muzzin, Lue-Yen Tucker, Jeffrey Lee, Neil Mehta, Nizar Mukhtar | Neil Mehta, Nizar A. Mukhtar | University of California, San Francisco, United States | JAMA Network Open | 43 | 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.35066 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

Among the highest 18-month-cited hepatocellular carcinoma treatment and prognosis papers, the informative topic landscape is organized around specific regimens and treatment pathways rather than generic disease or survival-endpoint labels. Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy leads at 24 of 50 papers (normalized frequency 0.48), followed by PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (20 papers, 0.40) and sorafenib (19 papers, 0.38)—a trio that frames how the field still benchmarks new evidence against checkpoint blockade and the landmark tyrosine-kinase era. A second tier clusters combination strategies and named protocols: combination immunotherapy, CTLA-4 inhibition, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, durvalumab plus tremelimumab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab, alongside VEGF-pathway agents such as lenvatinib and bevacizumab. Surgical and locoregional themes are co-prominent rather than peripheral—hepatectomy, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, locoregional therapy, transarterial chemoembolization, and downstaging appear alongside Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging, alpha-fetoprotein, Child-Pugh class, and cirrhosis. RECIST 1.1 and tumor microenvironment remain visible as trial-structure vocabulary. Together, the pattern portrays a field where high-impact 2024 publications debate which systemic immuno-oncology combinations to deploy, how to integrate locoregional and surgical options for unresectable or downstaged disease, and how to stage and select patients across the BCLC framework.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

Comparing normalized concept frequencies between the Class of 2025 (2023 publications) and Class of 2026 (2024 publications) reveals a cohort pivoting from endpoint-heavy immuno-oncology reporting toward broader systemic-treatment narratives and emerging combination regimens. Systemic therapy rose from a normalized frequency of 0.20 to 0.30, one of the largest sustained gains among core clinical themes. CTLA-4 inhibition more than quadrupled (0.04 to 0.18), and nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and durvalumab-based combinations—including durvalumab plus tremelimumab—showed sharp increases, consistent with maturing long-term survival updates and new first-line trial readouts entering the citation leaderboard. Sorafenib remained highly cited in both cohorts but edged higher in 2024, underscoring its continuing role as a comparator backbone even as checkpoint combinations advance. Several methodological and legacy-treatment topics retreated: hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy, propensity score matching, and generic survival-analysis framing disappeared from the top-ranked concept set, suggesting less emphasis on older regional-chemotherapy paradigms and observational matching studies among the most cited work. Progression-free survival and objective response rate appeared more prominently in the 2025 cohort than in 2026, while overall survival and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy held steady at the top—implying that the field's center of gravity is shifting from reporting short-term response metrics toward durable survival evidence and expanded combination immunotherapy strategies.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/hepatocellular-carcinoma-treatment-and-prognosis/2026. Accessed 2026-07-14.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```