Since the majority of PLCs are hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), clinical management involves many disciplines such as medical, surgical, interventional, radiotherapy, Chinese medicine and medical imaging. Therefore, standardized diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma requires multidisciplinary experts to discuss and formulate in order to select the most suitable preferred treatment and comprehensive therapeutic measures for patients after diagnosis. Currently, there are international guidelines for liver cancer treatment, including: (1) the clinical practice guidelines for liver cancer of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN); (2) the clinical treatment guidelines for HCC of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD); (3) the treatment guidelines of the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG); and (4) the consensus of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), which cover the staging, monitoring, screening, diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer. The content covers staging, surveillance, screening, diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. (i) Staging of hepatocellular carcinoma The staging of HCC is not uniform in the AASLD, ACS and NCCN guidelines, and the emphasis is not the same. Among them, the TNM staging approach adopted by NCCN is the most standardized internationally, but is less recognized because: (1) vascular invasion, which is crucial to the treatment and prognosis of HCC, is difficult to be accurately judged before treatment (especially before surgery); (2) treatment of HCC places great emphasis on liver function compensation, while TNM staging does not indicate the patient’s liver function status; (3) the TNM staging of each version AASLD adopts the Barcelona Liver Cancer Center (BCLC) staging and treatment strategy, which takes into account tumor, liver function and systemic conditions in a more comprehensive manner and is supported by high-level evidence of evidence-based medicine, and is now more recognized and widely adopted worldwide. (ii) Surveillance and screening of hepatocellular carcinoma The four international guidelines mentioned above all emphasize early screening and early surveillance of HCC, and are based on evidence-based medical evidence with high credibility. The views on screening indicators are relatively consistent and mainly include two items: serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and liver ultrasonography. For men ≥ 35 years of age with HBV and/or HCV infection and a high risk of alcoholism, screening is generally performed at 6-month intervals. For AFP > 400 μg/L without liver occupancy on ultrasound, care should be taken to exclude pregnancy, active liver disease, and tumors of embryonic origin in the gonads; if this can be ruled out, CT and/or MRI should be performed. If AFP is elevated but not at the diagnostic level, in addition to the above-mentioned conditions that may cause increased AFP should be excluded, the dynamic changes in AFP should be closely tracked, the interval between ultrasound examinations should be shortened to 1~2 months, and CT and/or MRI examinations should be performed when needed. If hepatocellular carcinoma is highly suspected, DSA hepatic artery iodine oil angiography is recommended. (iii) Diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma Diagnostic criteria of HCC include pathological and clinical diagnostic criteria. The diagnostic methods include serum tumor marker (AFP) testing, imaging examinations (including ultrasonography, CT, MRI and DSA angiography) and pathological histological examinations (mainly liver tissue biopsy). the BSG guidelines suggest that for patients with cirrhosis, the presence of cirrhosis is first determined, followed by a threshold of 2 cm of occupancy size to start the diagnostic process; while for non-cirrhotic patients, the AFP level is used to guide the diagnostic process. The diagnostic process of AASLD has been applied internationally more often, differentiating between the mass and the diagnostic process by occupancy <1 cm, 1 to 2 cm and >2 cm, with emphasis on early diagnosis. (iv) Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma The consensus of ACS states that the treatment goals of HCC include: cure; local control of tumor and preparation for transplantation; local control of tumor and palliative treatment. Improving the quality of life is also one of the important treatment goals. The NCCN emphasizes the importance of keeping abreast of the times while following evidence-based medicine, and its 2008 edition has introduced the last two years of breakthroughs in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. breakthroughs, namely, the molecular targeted therapy drug sorafenib is listed as one of the standard treatment options for patients with inoperable and advanced HCC. Since the 1970s to 1980s, the early diagnosis of PLC has been greatly facilitated by the gradual popularization and wide application of serum AFP, real-time ultrasound imaging and CT. As the early diagnosis rate has increased significantly, the surgical resection rate has increased and the prognosis has been improved significantly; therefore, the diagnosis of PLC, especially the early diagnosis, is the key to clinical treatment and prognosis. In terms of early diagnosis, full attention should be paid to the background of liver disease of patients. In China, 95% of PLC patients have a background of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, 10% have a background of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and some patients have overlapping HBV and HCV infection. Special attention should be paid to the following risk groups: middle-aged and elderly men with high HBV load, HCV-infected patients, HBV and HCV overlapping infections, alcoholics, co-infected diabetics, and those with a family history of liver cancer. After the age of 35-40, these people should undergo regular screening (including serum AFP test and liver ultrasound) every 6 months; when there is elevated AFP or “occupying lesions” in the liver area, they should enter the diagnostic process immediately, observe closely and strive to make early diagnosis. (2) Laboratory diagnosis methods of hepatocellular carcinoma At present, the qualitative diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in China is still mainly based on the detection of serum AFP, which should be highly regarded: (1) In China, more than 60% of hepatocellular carcinoma cases have serum AFP >400μg/L; (2) At present, there is no other tumor marker with specificity comparable to AFP; (3) AFP detection is less dependent on imaging equipment and new technology.