Recommendations for the use of chemoembolization in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma： Usefulness ofscoring system？

Several hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） staging systemshave been established, and a variety of countryspecifictreatment strategies are also proposed. Thebarcelona - clinic liver cancer （BCLC） system is themost widely used in Europe. The Hong Kong liverCancer is a new prognostic staging system; it mightbecome the reference system in Asia. Transarterialchemoembolization （TACE） is the most widely usedtreatment for HCC worldwide; but it showed a benefitonly for intermediate stage HCC （BCLC B）, and thereis still no consensus concerning treatment methodsand treatment strategies. In view of the highly diversenature of HCC and practices, a scoring system designedto assist with decision making before the first TACE isperformed or prior to repeating the procedure would behighly useful.