2022 KLCA-NCC Korea Practice Guidelines for the Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the fourth most common cancer among men in South Korea, where the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B infection is high in middle and old age. The current practice guidelines will provide useful and sensible advice for the clinical management of patients with HCC. A total of 49 experts in the fields of hepatology, oncology, surgery, radiology, and radiation oncology from the Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center Korea Practice Guideline Revision Committee revised the 2018 Korean guidelines and developed new recommendations that integrate the most up-to-date research findings and expert opinions. These guidelines provide useful information and direction for all clinicians, trainees, and researchers in the diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

2022 Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center Korea Practice Guidelines for Imaging Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: What’s New?

“… Adapted from KLCA and NCC. Korean J Radiol 2022;23:1126-1240 [ 1 ] and Korean J Radiol 2019;20:1042-1113 [ 2 ]. KLCA = Korean Liver Cancer Association, NCC = National Cancer Center …”

“…An updated version (v2022) of the Korean Liver Cancer Association (KLCA)-National Cancer Center (NCC) Korea practice guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) management has recently been released [ 1 ]. Several important changes have been made since the previous version (v2018) [ 2 ] pertaining to the imaging diagnosis of HCC, after considering published research and practical issues.…”

2022 Korean Liver Cancer Association-National Cancer Center Korea Practice Guidelines for Transarterial Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: What’s New?

“…The three recommendations concerning cTACE in the 2022 version [ 1 ] are the same as those in the 2018 version because there are no new issues warranting significant changes to the existing recommendations.…”

“…Although curative treatments are strongly recommended for early stage HCCs and new systemic agents have been introduced for advanced-stage HCC, cTACE remains either the best or an alternative option for every mUICC stage in the updated guidelines regarding the first-line treatments for patients with HCC (in the conditions of Child–Pugh class A, no portal hypertension, and the ECOG performance status scale 0–1) [ 1 ].…”

“…Transarterial therapies include conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE), drug-eluting bead TACE (DEB-TACE), and transarterial radioembolization (TARE). The 2022 Korean Liver Cancer Association (KLCA)-National Cancer Center (NCC) Korea Practice Guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include five recommendations for transarterial therapies, reflecting up-to-date research results and real-world Korean practice since the release of the 2018 version [ 1 ]. A summary of the key updates for each treatment is as follows.…”