Hepatocellular carcinoma: the role of the North American GI Steering Committee Hepatobiliary Task Force and the advent of effective drug therapy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a disease that requires multidisciplinary management. There has been no widely accepted standard for systemic therapy for this disease until recently. This article briefly discusses the management of earlier stage HCC, then focuses on newer agents with promise, particularly sorafenib, a drug that appears to be the new standard of care for advanced disease.