Multidisciplinary management of hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus – Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgical Hospital consensus statement

// Shuqun Cheng 1 , Jiamei Yang 1 , Feng Shen 1 , Weiping Zhou 1 , Yi Wang 1 , Wenming Cong 1 , Guang shun Yang 1 , Hongyan Cheng 1 , Heping Hu 1 , Chunfang Gao 1 , Jia Guo 1 , Aijun Li 1 , Yan Meng 1 , Xiaoqing Jiang 1 , Yefa Yang 1 , Guojun Qian 1 , Ming Luo 1 , Bing Hu 1 , Xiaobo Man 1 , Baohua Zhang 1 , Changqing Su 1 , Feiguo Zhou 1 , Nan Li 1 , Jie Shi 1 , Meng Wang 1 , Yaxin Zheng 1 , Weixing Guo 1 , Juxian Sun 1 , Hongyang Wang 1 , Wan-yee Lau 1 and Meng-chao Wu 1 1 Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgical Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China Correspondence to: Meng-chao Wu, email: // Keywords : hepatocellular carcinoma; portal vein tumor thrombus; consensus; multidisciplinary treatment; recommendations Received : December 16, 2015 Accepted : March 18, 2016 Published : March 27, 2016 Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) complicated by portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) is associated with poor prognosis, early recurrence of HCC, and limited treatment options. Current guidelines do not have standardized diagnostic and treatment modalities, thus creating a need for a multidisciplinary treatment model for standardization of the treatment. Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgical Hospital (China) convened two working parties of experts from all the departments, to consolidate the current evidence, prevailing vision for the future, and experience of the practicing clinicians engaged in HCC management, so as to develop a consensus for PVTT diagnosis and treatment according to the GRADE system. Based on the quality of the existing evidence and the strength of recommendations, the consensus statements were categorized into 3 evidence levels (A/B/C) and 5 classes (I/II/IIa/IIb/III).The panel discussed and provided clarity on the management and research options in the field of HCC with PVTT. In addition, the panel also assessed the quality of the cited studies and assigned grades to the recommendation statements. Among the group of experts, there was excellent agreement with regard to effective diagnosis and treatment of HCC with PVTT. The recommendations of this consensus will provide guidance to physicians and clinical researchers on the effective management of HCC with PVTT.