CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Hepato Pancreatic Biliary Cancers
Histotripsy for Portal Vein Tumor Thrombus in a Patient with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Case Report
Provisionally accepted
Kevin Burns*
Tiffany M Juarez- Providence Mission Hospital Mission Viejo, Mission Viejo, United States
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The presence of portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) carries a poor prognosis and significantly reduces effective treatment options. Here, we present a case of a 76-year-old male with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C (BCLC C) HCC and extensive PVTT who was treated with histotripsy having progressed through both locoregional and systemic therapy. Histotripsy produced rapid cavitation of the tumor thrombus eliciting an imaging response in the process and liver regeneration in the treated segment. This case highlights the feasibility of noninvasive histotripsy as a salvage therapy for PVTT from HCC.
Keywords: Portal vein tumor thrombus, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Histotripsy, Locoregional, Salvage Therapy
Received: 09 Oct 2025; Accepted: 10 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Burns and Juarez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kevin Burns, kevin.burns@stjoe.org
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