Surgical treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) 3 cm or less than 3 cm in diameter

The efficacy of surgical treatment of small hepatocellular carcinoma (3 cm less in diameter) was studied in 30 patients with solitary tumors. The survival of the patients surviving at least three months after resection was 95% at 1 year, 69% at 2 years, 50% at 3 and 4 years. With regard to the range of resection in cases of partial resection the survival rate was 94% after 1 year, 64% after 2 years, and 47% after 3 and 4 years, while in the case of more than subsegmental resection the 4-year survival rate was 100% and a significant difference was noted. Recurrence was noted after 47% of the partial resections and 25% of the subsegmental or larger resections, and 6 of the 8 recurrent site especially in lesions of less than 2 cm were within the same segmental region. Thus, in the surgical treatment of solitary cancers smaller than 3 cm in size, resection of the segmental resection seems to be preferred whenever the functional reserves of the liver permits.