, Su Jong Yu1,2
1Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
2Liver Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
© 2025 The Korean Liver Cancer Association.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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| Region | Organization | Guideline | Publishing year | Distinctive feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia | KLCA-NCC | 2022 KLCA-NCC Korea practice guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma | 2023 | Comprehensive overview from prevention to palliative treatment |
| Utilization of resection and combination of locoregional treatments in advanced-stage HCC | ||||
| JSH | Management of hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan: JSH consensus statements and recommendations 2021 update | 2021 | Defines the extremely high-risk group and proposes a surveillance strategy | |
| Clinical practice guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma: The Japan Society of Hepatology 2021 version (5th JSH‐HCC guidelines) | 2023 | Presents concise algorithms for surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment | ||
| TLCA | Management consensus guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma: 2023 update on surveillance, diagnosis, systemic treatment and posttreatment monitoring by the TLCA and the Gastroenterological Society of Taiwan | 2024 | Utilization of biomarkers other than AFP in the surveillance setting | |
| Suggests systemic therapy for patients with TACE refractoriness or unsuitability | ||||
| APASL | Asia-Pacific clinical practice guidelines on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: a 2017 update | 2017 | Recently updated guidelines for systemic therapy Includes etiologies from across the Asia region | |
| APASL clinical practice guidelines on systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma-2024 | 2024 | Diagnosis and surveillance explained according to imaging modalities | ||
| APPLE | A changing paradigm for the treatment of intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma: APPLE consensus statements | 2020 | Focus on the treatment of intermediate-stage HCC and TACE-unsuitable cases | |
| Europe | BSG | British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma in adults | 2024 | Adopts risk stratification scores for surveillance of CHB patients |
| Includes the most recent first-line systemic therapies | ||||
| BCLC | BCLC strategy for prognosis prediction and treatment recommendation: the 2022 update | 2022 | Focus on staging and treatment allocation | |
| Presents clinical decision-making as a key process | ||||
| EASL | EASL clinical practice guidelines: management of hepatocellular carcinoma | 2018 | Comprehensive overview from prevention to palliative treatment | |
| ESMO | Hepatocellular carcinoma: ESMO clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up | 2018 | Mostly based on the modified BCLC staging system | |
| Updated treatment recommendations for hepatocellular carcinoma from the ESMO clinical practice guidelines | 2021 | Proposes the concept of treatment stage migration | ||
| USA | AASLD | AASLD practice guidance on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma | 2023 | Presents algorithms for each treatment according to staging |
| Utilization of downstaging criteria for LT | ||||
| Broad application of treatments for early-stage HCC | ||||
| NCCN | NCCN clinical practice guidelines in oncology (NCCN guidelines®) hepatocellular carcinoma (version 4, 2024) | 2024 | Does not present the quality of evidence or strength of recommendation | |
| Does not follow a specific staging system | ||||
| ASCO | Systemic therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: ASCO guideline update | 2024 | Focus on systemic therapy | |
| AGA | AGA clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma | 2022 | Focus on systemic therapy |
| Region | Guideline | Surveillance |
Interval (months) | Staging | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target population | Test | |||||
| Asia | KLCA-NCC | CHB or CHC or cirrhosis | US plus AFP | 6 | mUICC staging system is primary, with BCLC and AJCC/UICC staging systems as complementary | |
| CT or MRI (inadequate US) | ||||||
| JSH | High-risk | CHB or CHC or non-viral cirrhosis | US plus | 6 | Staging is not elaborated in detail | |
| AFP or AFP-L3% or PIVKA-II | ||||||
| Extremely high-risk | Cirrhosis with CHB or Cirrhosis with CHC | US plus | 3-4 | Treatment algorithm based on liver function, extrahepatic metastasis, vascular invasion, tumor number, and tumor size is presented | ||
| AFP or AFP-L3% or PIVKA-II | ||||||
| CT or MRI (optional) | 6-12 | |||||
| TLCA | High-risk | CHB or CHC or cirrhosis | US plus | 6 | Staging is not elaborated in detail | |
| AFP and/or PIVKA-II | ||||||
| Extremely high-risk | Cirrhosis with CHB or Cirrhosis with CHC | CT or MRI (optional) | 6-12 | Treatment algorithm based on JSH and HKLC, considering extrahepatic metastasis, liver function, vascular invasion, tumor number, and tumor size, is presented | ||
| Inadequate US in high-risk group | ||||||
| APASL | Cirrhosis or CHB with Asian females >50 years or Asian males >40 years or Africans >20 years or family history of HCC | US plus AFP | 6 | Staging is not elaborated in detail | ||
| Treatment algorithm based on JSH and HKLC, incorporating extrahepatic metastasis, liver function, resectability, vascular invasion, tumor number, and tumor size, is presented | ||||||
| APPLE | - | - | - | - | ||
| Europe | BSG | Cirrhosis or CHB with Asian females >50 years or Asian males >40 years or Africans >20 years or family history of HCC or PAGE-B >10 | US plus AFP | 6 | BCLC staging system | |
| EASL | Cirrhosis with Child-Pugh A and B or Child-Pugh C transplant candidate or CHB with PAGE-B ≥10 or non-cirrhotic F3 | US | 6 | BCLC staging system | ||
| ESMO | Cirrhosis with preserved liver function and manageable comorbidities or CHB with DNA >10,000 copies/mL or CHC with F3 | US±AFP | 6 | BCLC staging system | ||
| BCLC | - | - | - | - | ||
| USA | AASLD | Cirrhosis with Child-Pugh A and B or Child-Pugh C transplant candidate or CHB with females from endemic country >50 years or males endemic country >40 years or from Africa at earlier age or family history of HCC or PAGE-B ≥10 | US plus AFP | 6 | BCLC staging system | |
| NCCN | Cirrhosis with Child-Pugh A and B or Child-Pugh C transplant candidate or CHB | US plus AFP | 6 | No specific staging system is recommended | ||
| AJCC and BCLC staging systems are introduced | ||||||
| ASCO | - | - | - | - | ||
| AGA | - | - | - | - | ||
HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; KLCA-NCC, Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center of Korea; JSH, Japan Society of Hepatology; TLCA, Taiwan Liver Cancer Association; AFP, α-Fetoprotein; TACE, transarterial chemoembolization; APASL, Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver; APPLE, Asia-Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert; BSG, British Society of Gastroenterology; CHB, chronic hepatitis B; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; EASL, European Association for the Study of the Liver; ESMO, European Society for Medical Oncology; AASLD, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease; LT, liver transplantation; NCCN, National Comprehensive Cancer Network; ASCO, American Society of Clinical Oncology; AGA, American Gastroenterological Association.
KLCA-NCC, Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center of Korea; CHB, chronic hepatitis B; CHC, chronic hepatitis C; US, ultrasonography; AFP, α-fetoprotein; CT, computed tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; mUICC, modified International Union for Cancer Control; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer; JSH, Japan Society of Hepatology; AFP-L3%, lens culinaris lectin-binding subfraction of AFP; PIVKA-II, protein induced by vitamin K absence/antagonist-II; TLCA, Taiwan Liver Cancer Association; HKLC, Hong Kong Liver Cancer; APASL, Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; APPLE, Asia-Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert; BSG, British Society of Gastroenterology; PAGE-B, patient's age, gender, and platelets; EASL, European Association for the Study of the Liver; ESMO, European Society for Medical Oncology; AASLD, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease; NCCN, National Comprehensive Cancer Network; ASCO, American Society of Clinical Oncology; AGA, American Gastroenterological Association.