Recommendation and Guidelines
- Surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: an expert consensus-based practical recommendation from the Korean Liver Cancer Association
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Min-Su Park, Jai Young Cho, Eunju Kim, Hee Young Na, YoungRok Choi, Na Reum Kim, Young-In Yoon, Boram Lee, Eun Sun Jang, Yun Kyung Jung, Kyung Sik Kim
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J Liver Cancer. 2025;25(2):140-159. Published online September 22, 2025
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17998/jlc.2025.08.05
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Abstract
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- Compared with other treatments, surgical resection is an effective treatment method with the lowest local recurrence rate and the highest survival rate for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To achieve excellent results after surgical treatment, it is essential to carefully select patients who are suitable for hepatic resection and minimize postoperative complications and liver function decline through standardized surgical methods and pre- and postoperative management. However, domestic and international treatment guidelines only broadly recommend the application of hepatic resection for HCC with a single tumor and good liver function. Hence, practical treatment guidelines are required that can be standardized and used according to the varying clinical environments, including indications for hepatic resection, preoperative evaluation, basic principles of hepatic resection, minimally invasive hepatic resection, pre- and postoperative patient management, surgical treatment considerations in specific infection situations, and follow-up after surgical resection. Accordingly, an expert group from the Korean Liver Cancer Association Research Committee has developed practical recommendations based on expert consensus regarding the surgical treatment of HCC through a Delphi study.
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Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by

- Radiotherapy for Liver-Confined Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Elderly Patients with Comorbidity
Sun Hyun Bae, Young Seok Kim, Sang Gyune Kim, Jeong-Ju Yoo, Jae Myeong Lee, Sanghyeok Lim, Jae Hong Jung, Chan Kyu Kim
Cancers.2025; 18(1): 91. CrossRef
- Local ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma: 2024 expert consensus-based practical recommendation of the Korean Liver Cancer Association
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Seungchul Han, Pil Soo Sung, Soo Young Park, Jin Woong Kim, Hyun Pyo Hong, Jung-Hee Yoon, Dong Jin Chung, Joon Ho Kwon, Sanghyeok Lim, Jae Hyun Kim, Seung Kak Shin, Tae Hyung Kim, Dong Ho Lee, Jong Young Choi
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J Liver Cancer. 2024;24(2):131-144. Published online August 30, 2024
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17998/jlc.2024.08.04
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23,496
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Supplementary Material
- Local ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a non-surgical option that directly targets and destroys tumor cells, has advanced significantly since the 1990s. Therapies with different energy sources, such as radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation, and cryoablation, employ different mechanisms to induce tumor necrosis. The precision, safety, and effectiveness of these therapies have increased with advances in guiding technologies and device improvements. Consequently, local ablation has become the firstline treatment for early-stage HCC. The lack of organized evidence and expert opinions regarding patient selection, pre-procedure preparation, procedural methods, swift post-treatment evaluation, and follow-up has resulted in clinicians following varied practices. Therefore, an expert consensus-based practical recommendation for local ablation was developed by a group of experts in radiology and hepatology from the Research Committee of the Korean Liver Cancer Association in collaboration with the Korean Society of Image-guided Tumor Ablation to provide useful information and guidance for performing local ablation and for the pre- and posttreatment management of patients.
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Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by

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Shuichiro Shiina, Ryosuke Tateishi, Joon Il Choi, So Yeon Kim, Zhiqiang Meng, Lujun Shen, Sheng-Nan Lu, Jen-I. Hwang, Maki Tobari, Hitoshi Maruyama, Terguunbileg Batsaikhan, Qing Deng, Lariza Marie Canseco, Yoshinari Asaoka, Shi-Ming Lin, Kai-Wen Huang, H
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