Clinical Application of Liver Stiffness Measurement for Assessing the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The most significant risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the presence of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis of the liver. Liver biopsy was traditionally considered the gold standard for assessing the liver fibrosis burden. Recently, non-invasive methods, particularly transient elastography (TE), have proven effective at measuring fibrosis and determining cirrhosis. Clinical application of TE ranges from measuring fibrosis to predicting long-term prognosis and treatment response. Here, we focus on recent studies on the prognostic value of TE for predicting HCC. (J Liver Cancer 2019;19:12-18)