Hepatic tumors: a continuous challenge to achieve further improvements

Bucharest (Romania) hosted this year's annual meeting of the International Association of Surgeons, Gastroenterologists and Oncologists. The president of the Congress was Irinel Popescu of the University of Bucharest (Romania) and the meeting was held under the auspices of the International Association of Surgeons, Gastroenterologists and Oncologists president Masatoshi Makuuchi (Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan) and its general secretary, Nicolas J Lygidakis (Athens Medical Center, Greece). The organizing committee of the Congress has made considerable efforts to promote the globalization of medical knowledge and to maintain the values of Médecins Sans Frontières. The Congress was a model of scientific professionalism, and was attended by more than 850 delegates. Approximately 250 specialists from 43 countries on five continents described their most recent advances, providing the delegates with an intense and very rich program. The program included symposia, video presentations, free papers and poster presentations. This article highlights the newest and most original results concerning the treatment of liver tumors, particularly in cirrhotic patients.