Published online May 28, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i9.1168
Peer-review started: August 30, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: January 29, 2015
Accepted: March 18, 2015
Article in press: March 20, 2015
Published online: May 28, 2015
Processing time: 264 Days and 13.2 Hours
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver-derived malignancy with a high fatality rate. Risk factors for the development of HCC have been identified and are clearly described. However, due to the lack of tumor-specific symptoms, HCC are diagnosed at progressed tumor stages in most patients, and thus curative therapeutic options are limited. The focus of this review is on surgical therapeutic options which can be offered to patients with HCC with special regard to recent findings, not exclusively focused on surgical therapy, but also to other treatment modalities. Further, potential promising future perspectives for the treatment of HCC are discussed.
Core tip: This review presents an overview on most important knowledge on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for surgeons and describes the common surgical and non-surgical therapeutic options for the treatment of HCC. Further, a perspective on novel aspect and future decision aids is given.