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SIR 2025

Interventional Oncology

Educational Exhibit

Session: Educational Exhibit Presentations - Interventional Oncology

From Polymers to Patients: Hydrogels for the Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Monday, March 31, 2025
5:15 PM – 5:20 PM CT
Location: Music City Center, 209 ABC
Learning Objectives:

  • Describe current applications of hydrogels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment

  • Review key molecular properties of hydrogels enabling diverse therapeutic use cases

  • Highlight hydrogel therapies for HCC in different stages of scientific development

  • Identify potential challenges for integrating hydrogels into standard patient care





Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver tumor and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Treatment strategies for HCC have centered on surgical resection, liver transplantation, and ablation. Locoregional therapies such as trans-arterial embolization (TAE), trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and radioembolization (TARE) have demonstrated survival benefits over supportive care.
Hydrogels, composed of a porous polymer and water mixture, have properties that are highly tunable for targeting a core tumor and local microenvironment. Hydrogels are a highly customizable biomaterial with several key roles for treating HCC.

Clinical Findings/Procedure Details: The properties of hydrogels, such as imageability and a temperature-sensitive transition from solution to gel, contribute value as a therapeutic medium. Hydrogels can encapsulate and selectively release chemotherapy agents, immunotherapies and plasmids. There are different methods currently being explored for how to use and deliver hydrogels, including embolization and percutaneous intra-tumoral injection. In the context of HCC, hydrogels remain in different stages of development, with many innovative applications in the preclinical and clinical phases. While some hydrogels are currently being implemented into the commercial market, further research into long-term safety and efficacy is crucial for optimizing patient outcomes.

Conclusion and/or Teaching Points:
Hydrogels are versatile biomaterials that can be utilized for the treatment of HCC. They have tunable physical properties and chemical formations, leading to therapeutic value as an embolic as well as a medium for localized drug delivery. This educational exhibit will provide a baseline primer on the roles of hydrogels for the locoregional treatment of HCC in addition to future implications for patient care.