Abstract

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may be suffered by various emergency conditions such as spontaneous rupture of HCC with intraperitoneal hemorrhage, variceal bleeding with portal vein tumor thrombus, hemobilia, obstructive jaundice, distant metastasis of HCC in central nervous system, spinal bone metastasis of HCC with cord compression and so on. These emergencies can be categorized into 4 types, conditions with spontaneous rupture of HCC, distant metastasis of HCC, direct invasion of HCC and paraneoplastic syndrome. According to HCC status and liver function, some these patients showed more beneficial effects with active palliative treatments than with best supportive cares. Various palliative treatments can be used such as surgical resection, transarterial chemoembolization, radiotherapy, systemic chemotherapy and combination of above therapies. We reviewed the emergencies in patients with HCC for improving survival and quality of life.

• Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma;Emergencies;Spontaneous rupture;Neoplasm metastasis;Neoplasm invasiveness