A Phase II Study of Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)

1. This is a phase II study of radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced HCC. 2. Patients whose tumor(s) are not suitable for other local treatment, such as surgery, trans-arterial chemoembolization (TAE), ethanol injection, or radiofrequency ablation. will be enrolled. 3. Radical radiotherapy will be started after pre-treatment evaluation. The total dose of RT will be 50Gy in 25 fractions to local tumor(s). 4. Dynamic contrast enhanced MRI and serum samples will be done at the following time points to assess the change in tumor perfusion: (1) before the start of thalidomide treatment; (2) 2weeks after radiotherapy begins; and (3) 1 month after radiotherapy completes. DCEMRI will then be done every 3 months until disease progression. 5. The study was designed to evaluate the response rate and tolerability of radical radiotherapy for locally advanced HCC. The sample size was determined by the expected incidence of grade 4 toxicity and response rate of radiotherapy for locally advanced HCC. Since the grade 4 toxicity of radiotherapy alone is 10%, the response rate is 60% we need at least 12 patients to evaluate for the treatment.