[Hepatocellular carcinoma]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer death and the first in patients with compensated cirrhosis. Chronic infection with hepatitis B and C, alcohol, smoking, exposure to aflatoxin and metabolic syndrome, associated with diabetes and obesity are the main etiological factors. Regardless of etiology, patients with cirrhosis stand as the category at higher risk of developing HCC, and indeed are the target of surveillance programs aimed to the early diagnosis of HCC, the only chance to reduce HCC-related mortality. This notwithstanding, International Scientific Societies have issued recommendations for the management of HCC, a significant number of patients are treated outside guidelines, due to several reasons. Among queries still unsolved, the impact of biological characterization of HCC, along with the biological profiling of patients at risk of developing HCC represent main challenges for the future. Treatment personalization and multimodal treatment being further challenges. This chapter summarizes the recommendations for surveillance, diagnosis and treatment of HCC and focus on future directions.