Stratification of risk of recurrence after curative-intent treatment for small hepatocellular carcinoma

For patients with preserved liver function, tumor number and size have conventionally been main criteria for selecting optimal treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (1,2). Particularly for the group of patients with small (≤3 cm) HCC, there have been aggressive discussions regarding the superiority of surgery vs. ablation therapies (3) because this group of patients may enjoy long-term survival with an adequate curative-intent treatment.