Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan: the J-HCC guidelines

The “Clinical Practice Guidelines for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC),” the first evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of HCC in Japan, were compiled by an expert panel supported by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. The English translation has been completed (http://www.jsh.or.jp), and its summary has just been published (Hepatol Res 38:37–51, 2008). This set of guidelines covers six research fields: prevention, diagnosis and surveillance, surgery, chemotherapy, transarterial chemoembolization, and percutaneous local ablation therapy. For the users’ convenience, practical algorithms for the surveillance and treatment of HCC were also created, which are based on evidence from articles selected for the guidelines and modified according to the current status of medical practice in Japan. One year after their publication, the J-HCC Guidelines have become well disseminated among both specialists and primary care physicians in Japan. As expected, these guidelines have begun to be applied at every level of clinical decision making for HCC. The first revision of the J-HCC Guidelines is now in process, and it is scheduled to be completed by March 2009.