Experimental pill aims to shield the liver during cancer treatment

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Aged 18-85 years (inclusive) of either gender 2. Willing and able to provide signed informed consent 3. Confirmed diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma by radiology, histology, or cytology 4. Subject has the willingness to undergo TACE 5. ECOG performance Status of 0-1 6. The patient is expected to survive more than 3 months 7. Laboratory values should meet all the following standards at the screening visit: A. AST, ALP and ALT are ≤ 5x ULN. B. International Normalized Ratio (INR) ≤ 1.5 C. Prothrombin time \< 4 sec above upper limit of normal D. Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5×10\^9/L; Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL; platelet ≥ 50×10\^9/L. E. Total bilirubin \< 2.5 mg/dL F. Serum creatinine \< 2 mg/dL 8. With liver stiffness measurement \>7 kPa (assessed by FibroScan®) or \> 1.5 m/sec (assessed by acoustic radiation force impulse elastography (ARFI)) Exclusion Criteria: 1. Patients with evidence of macrovascular invasion 2. Patients with evidence of extrahepatic spread 3. Any condition representing a contraindication to TACE as determined by the investigators 4. Acute liver failure or liver function decompensation patient perform, such as hepatic encephalopathy, and ascites 5. Patients with acute or chronic active hepatitis B or C infection and are recommended to receive HBV or HCV treatment, e.g., Patient with HBV DNA ≥ 20,000 IU/ml or with detectable HCV RNA 6. Patients who have severe organic diseases on heart, lungs, brain, kidney, and gastrointestinal tract by the judgment of investigators 7. Patients with chronic pancreatitis 8. Patients who are taking any prohibited drugs that might interfere the trial 9. Patients who are not able to express the chief complaint, for example, the patients with psychosis and severe neurosis 10. Patients with active infections (infection requiring the use systemic antibiotics) within 4 weeks prior to the screening visit