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Surgical resection
Source: Primary Liver Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version, National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: April 17, 2025 · Captured 2026-09-09.
Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary.
Context: Treatment of Localized Primary Liver Cancer / Treatment Options for Localized Primary Liver Cancer
Surgery is the mainstay of HCC treatment.
Preoperative assessment includes three-phase helical computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or both to determine the presence of an extension of a tumor across interlobar planes and potential involvement of the hepatic hilus, hepatic veins, and inferior vena cava. Tumors can be resected only if enough liver parenchyma can be spared with adequate vascular and biliary inflow and outflow. Patients with well-compensated cirrhosis can generally tolerate resection of up to 50% of their liver parenchyma.
Surgical resection can be considered for patients who meet the following criteria:
A solitary mass.
Good performance status.
Normal or minimally abnormal liver function tests.
No evidence of portal hypertension.
No evidence of cirrhosis beyond Child-Pugh class A.
After considering the location and number of tumors and the patient's hepatic function, only 5% to 10% of patients with liver cancer will prove to have localized disease amenable to resection.[2-6]
The principles of surgical resection involve obtaining a clear margin around the tumor, which may require any of the following procedures:
Segmental resection.
Hormone-lymphatic lobectomy.
Extended lobectomy.
The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate after curative resection ranges between 27% and 70% and depends on tumor stage and underlying liver function.[2-6]
In patients with limited multifocal disease, hepatic resection is controversial.
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Preserved source evidence · Not medical advice