Merits and boundaries of the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Staging and Treatment Algorithm: learning from the past to improve the future with a novel proposal.

This Expert Opinion article thoroughly analyses the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging and treatment algorithm for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that, since 1999, has standardised the HCC management, offering a structured approach for the prognostic evaluation and treatment recommendations of patients with HCC. The first part of the article presents the strengths and evolutionary improvements of the BCLC staging system. Nevertheless, both patient characteristics and treatments available have changed in the last two decades, limiting the role of the BCLC for treatment allocation in a growing number of patients.
Source: Journal of Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Expert Opinion Source Type: research