Staging
There are plenty of staging systems for hepatocellular carcinoma, but the most commonly used one to assess the condition of the patient and determine the appropriate treatment regimen is the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification.
It classifies the tumor according to size and number of lesions and presence of vascular invasion or extra hepatic metastasis along with the child Pugh classification that indicates the residual function of the liver by checking liver function tests as bilirubin, albumin, coagulation profile, the presence or absence of ascites and hepatic encephalopathy, along with a performance score to assess the general health status of the patient, combining all these gives an accurate picture of the severity of the cancer and helps set a suitable treatment plan.
