Resumen
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. While there has been an improvement in detecting this cancer earlier on, progression rates have remained consistent. Patients with early-stage HCC are first treated with liver-directed therapies before they are eligible to undergo liver transplantation (LT). The success of liver-directed therapy (LDT) is measured by follow-up imaging and is crucial to the success of overall outcomes in HCC. In this study, we investigated the impact of HCC care delay, specifically delays in follow-up imaging studies, on tumor progression in patients with early-stage HCC. The results demonstrate a need to optimize the scheduling of post-treatment appointments to decrease HCC care delay and improve progression rates.