Surgical Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

It is crucial to tailor the surgical management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to clinical pictures of end-stage liver disease to avoid dramatic neoplastic progression and negative outcomes. The timing of HCC recognition, its extent, the patient’s condition, and the availability of a referral hepatobiliary center influence the complexity of the treatment and clinical outcomes. It is known, for example, that the best results in terms of prognostic and efficacious treatment are obtained when the HCC lesion is detected early. When HCCs are unfit for liver resection and/or associated with end-stage liver disease (ESLD), a complex clinical condition may require liver transplantation (LT) or possibly even interventional radiological procedures as a neoadjuvant bridging option.