Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Currently, there are an estimated 29,200 new HCC cases in males and 11,510 cases in females in the United States in 2017. In China, there have been an estimated 343,700 new HCC cases in males and 122,300 new HCC cases in females in 2015, which is mainly attributed to the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistent infection and HBV-induced cirrhosis. Due to the absence of specific symptoms in early stages and the lack of early diagnostic markers, most HCC patients are often diagnosed at an advanced stage with poor prognosis (the overall ratio of mortality to incidence is 0.95). Although liver transplantation (LT) has been considered the most effective therapy for HCC, organ shortage significantly limits the application of LT. Even though targeted cancer therapy drugs such as sorafenib and regorafenib are available, the overall outcome of HCC remains unsatisfactory with median survival in early and advanced HCC of about 6-9 months and 1-2 months, respectively. Thus, it is very important to explore novel diagnostic tools, therapy strategies, and prognostic markers for HCC.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles and review articles that focus on the mechanisms of HCC development and the biomarkers of HCC diagnosis and prognosis, as well as the therapeutic strategy of HCC.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• The mechanisms of the initiation and development of HCC
• The mechanisms of chronic inflammatory liver diseases mainly including hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cirrhosis
• The biomarkers of HCC diagnosis, including serum biomarkers, salivary biomarkers, pathological biomarkers, gene biomarkers, molecular or cellular biomarkers, and so on
• The prognostic prediction of HCC based on molecular or cellular biology study
• The therapeutic strategy of HCC, including the novel therapy method, mini-invasive surgical treatment, drug therapy, and meta-analysis of clinical therapy strategy
• Research advance or meta-analysis of the diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis for HCC