Curative-intent therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include radiofrequency ablation (RFA), liver resection (LR), and liver transplantation (LT). Controversy exists in treatment selection for early-stage tumors. We sought to evaluate the oncologic outcomes of patients who received either RFA, LR, or LT as first-line treatment for solitary HCC ≤ 3cm in an intention-to-treat analysis.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult (≥18 years) patients
• Solitary HCC ≤ 3cm
• Receipt of either radiofrequency ablation, liver resection, or listing for a liver transplant
• Treatment received between Feb-2000 and Nov-2018

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pathology other than hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
• Receipt of prior treatment (i.e., not treatment naive)
• Not eligible for all of the three treatments (ablation, liver resection, or liver transplant listing)
• Platelet count <100,000 before treatment
• Alpha-1 fetoprotein (AFP) level > 1000 before treatment
• Age > 70 years
• Child-Pugh score C
• Esophageal varices grade greater than 2
• Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score before treatment exceeding 15
• Presence of ascites pretreatment
• Presence of encephalopathy pretreatment
• Spleen size greater than 12 cm

Adult (≥18 years) patients with solitary HCC ≤ 3cm who underwent either RFA, LR, or were listed for an LT between Feb-2000, and Nov-2018.

The data that support the findings of this study are unsuitable to post given that they contain potentially identifiable patient information. Moreover, the research ethics board at the University Health Network has only approved data to be stored and analyzed by the members of the institutional study team to minimize any breach of patient confidentiality.