Predictive Algorithms: Uses and Limitations

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has emerged as an area in urgent need of epidemiologic and outcomes research due to the continuing rise in incidence and mortality over time [1]. The overall 5-year survival from 2003 to 2007 was 14% in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database of the National Cancer Institute [2]. Although this survival rate may be disheartening, subsets of patients with limited tumor burden at diagnosis are candidates for curative therapies including liver transplantation, resection, or tumor ablation. These patients have significantly improved survival; specifically, patients receiving liver transplantation for early-stage disease have 5-year survival of over 70% [3].