The review of international clinical guidelines and clinical trial results for the diagnosis of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) for the period 2014–2020

Abstract

The purpose of this publication is to analyze international clinical guidelines and clinical trial data on the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and demonstrate the possibilities of using MRI with hepatobiliary magnetic resonance contrast agent. As well as an evaluation its diagnostic advantages in comparison with other diagnostic methods such as ultrasound, CT and MRI with extracellular contrast agents.Material and methods. Abstracts of 331 scientific articles for the period 2014–2020 were selected in the PubMed information and analytical system for the keywords: “hepatocellular carcinoma”, “US”, “CT”, “MRI”, “gadoxetic acid”. Articles about technical aspects and clinical cases were excluded. After the analysis of full-text articles, 32 publications were selected.Results. The presented review has demonstrated the diagnostic advantages of MRI with hepatobiliary magnetic resonance contrast agents and a wide range of its application at all stages of care for a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma.Conclusion. Despite the existing variety of methods for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma, the leading direction in this area is currently MRI with gadoxetic acid. The high diagnostic efficiency of gadoxetic acid makes it possible to increase the accuracy of the imaging and to choose the optimal management for each patient.