Screening for hepatocellular carcinoma: What is missing?

While there are guidelines from all major liver societies for the screening and management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), many issues remain surrounding the actual practice of screening. This review discusses how to diagnose and screen HCC and more importantly, how well we diagnose and screen for HCC. Improved survival and outcomes after HCC diagnosis depend upon accurate diagnosis of cirrhosis and the timeliness of screening. With all oral direct-acting antivirals now widely available for hepatitis C, there are increasing numbers of patients who may be cured but are still at risk of HCC. Some uncontrolled studies suggest that direct-acting antiviral therapy may even increase the risk of HCC. Before we discuss expansion of who should be screened, we need physicians to realize how poorly we screen those patients who are already recommended for screening by guidelines. (Hepatology Communications 2017;1:18-22).