Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) used to be regarded as a rare disease. The increasing numbers of chronic hepatitis C virus carriers in the United States and subsequent increased incidence of HCC seen in most large medical centers means that it is no longer an uncommon disease for most gastroenterologists or oncologists to encounter. During the times when liver resection or systemic chemotherapy were the only real therapeutic modalities available, the outcomes were generally dismal, especially because most patients presented with advanced-stage tumors. Several recent factors seem to have changed this
