New Strategies in Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a major health problem and a leading cause of cancer deaths allover the world. It has also become increasingly important with the increase in hepatitis C infection in developed countries. HCC is one of the most common malignancies allover the world, and the relationship between HCC and liver cirrhosis is clear, with the majority of cases of HCC occurring in patients with cirrhotic liver disease. There are many different risk factors that could damage the liver tissue and initiate an inflammatory process, fibrosis and cirrhosis. Hepatitis B & C viral infections are the most important factors that can affect the liver and initiates the injury of its tissues.Knowledge on HCC has progressed rapidly, and the paradigms for its diagnosis and treatment have changed in a major way during the past decade. Screening and early detection have become the corner stone in the recent management of the disease by aggressive surveillance of the high risk individuals, as the early the patient can be detected, the more favorable outcome can be resulted.The rapid and continuous achievements in method of diagnosis of HCC has helped so much in early and accurate detection of small lesions as regard the lab and imaging technologies that has been reflexed on the prognosis and outcome of the patients . The best clinical practice encompasses a multidisciplinary approach in a specialized liver cancer unit including the disciplines of surgery, interventional radiology, medical oncology, hepatology, diagnostic radiology, pathology, molecular biology, and even epidemiology. These different specialties are interacting together for surveillance, diagnosis, staging, treatment and follow up of the patients.