Open AccessSelection criteria for liver resection in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic liver disease
Author(s) -
Spiros Delis,
Christos Dervenis
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
world journal of gastroenterology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.427
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 2219-2840
pISSN - 1007-9327
DOI - 10.3748/wjg.14.3452
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , medicine , liver transplantation , malignancy , liver function , gastroenterology , chronic liver disease , milan criteria , liver disease , hepatitis b , hepatectomy , stage (stratigraphy) , hepatitis b virus , carcinoma , cirrhosis , transplantation , surgery , resection , immunology , virus , paleontology , biology
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with an annual occurrence of one million new cases. An etiologic association between HBV infection and the development of HCC has been established with a relative risk 200-fold greater than in non-infected individuals. Hepatitis C virus is also proving an important predisposing factor for this malignancy with an incidence rate of 7% at 5 years and 14% at 10 years. The prognosis depends on tumor stage and degree of liver function, which affect the tolerance to invasive treatments. Although surgical resection is generally accepted as the treatment of choice for HCC, new treatment strategies, such as local ablative therapies, transarterial embolization and liver transplantation, have been developed nowadays. With increasing detection of small HCCs from screening programs for cirrhotic patients, it is foreseen that locoregional therapy will play an important role in the near future.