Quick Summary

A panel of 17 experts from the Asia-Pacific region reached a consensus on the clinical usefulness of protein-induced vitamin K absence II (PIVKA-II) for the surveillance and treatment monitoring of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The experts agreed that PIVKA-II could be valuable in the detection of HCC in AFP-negative patients and for monitoring curative and intra-arterial locoregional treatments, outcomes, and recurrence. However, more evidence is required for the combined use of PIVKA-II with ultrasound and AFP for HCC surveillance, including small HCC. Implementing PIVKA-II in the region will also have challenges, such as standardizing cut-off values, cost-effectiveness, and improving awareness among healthcare providers.

Quick Summary

There is great geographical variation in the distribution of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with the majority of all cases worldwide found in the Asia-Pacific region, where HCC is one of the leading public health problems. Since the “Toward Revision of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) HCC Guidelines” meeting held at the 25th annual conference of the APASL in Tokyo, the newest guidelines for the treatment of HCC published by the APASL has been discussed. This latest guidelines recommend evidence-based management of HCC and are considered suitable for universal use in the Asia-Pacific region, which has a diversity of medical environments.

Authors: Masao Omata, Ann-Lii Cheng, Norihiro Kokudo, Masatoshi Kudo, Jeong Min Lee, Jidong Jia, Ryosuke Tateishi, Kwang-Hyub Han, Yoghesh K. Chawla, Shuichiro Shiina, Wasim Jafri, Diana Alcantara Payawal, Takamasa Ohki, Sadahisa Ogasawara, Pei-Jer Chen, Cosmas Rinaldi A. Lesmana, Laurentius A. Lesmana, Rino A. Gani, Shuntaro Obi, A. Kadir Dokmeci, and Shiv Kumar Sarin