Hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance: an open question

We were very interested to read the study recently published in Gastroenterology by Moon et al. (1). Performed as a case-control study within the US Veterans Affairs health care system, the study aimed to assess the association between screening for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cancer related-mortality in patients with cirrhosis. The authors did not find any evidence that screening patients with cirrhosis by abdominal ultrasound (US) or alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels decreases HCC-related mortality