What should I pay attention to after liver cancer surgery? In clinical work, almost every post-operative patient will ask me this question, probably because they are at a loss as to what to focus on in their future life and treatment, and also because they have concerns about tumor recurrence and metastasis. In fact, tumor treatment is not the mode of “once and for all after surgery” that we thought before, WHO has clearly defined tumor as a chronic disease, just like our common hypertension and diabetes, our treatment cannot achieve “once and for all” effect. “It is only a part of the long treatment-observation-treatment process. Liver cancer is the same, so the precautions for liver cancer patients after surgery are still very important. Overall, there are two main aspects that liver cancer patients need to pay attention to after surgery. The first is to make sure to do regular review. Among all tumors, liver cancer should be one of the more malignant ones, which means it is more prone to recurrence and metastasis than other tumors. According to some data, almost 40% to 50% of liver cancer patients will have recurrence or metastasis within 2 years after surgery, that is, almost 1 out of 2 liver cancer patients will have recurrence within 2 years after surgery. Therefore, for liver cancer patients, regular post-operative review is more necessary. The time point of postoperative review is mainly 1 month after surgery, and then every 3 months for the first 2 years, which can be extended to every 6 months if there is no recurrence within 2 years, and to every year if there is no recurrence or metastasis within 5 years. The review mainly focuses on AFP and liver ultrasound, but of course, if conditions allow, CT or MRI can also be performed, which may reveal more hidden and tiny lesions. Another aspect that patients with liver cancer should pay attention to after surgery is the treatment of viral hepatitis. In China, most liver cancer patients are accompanied by viral hepatitis, among which hepatitis B accounts for most of them, and a few of them are hepatitis C. I remember when I was in school, my mentor made a vivid analogy to me: the whole liver is like a building, and the hepatitis virus is the termites lurking in the building, these termites attack the building day after day, until one day one floor of the building is completely destroyed, threatening the safety of the whole building, that is, liver cancer appears. What we surgeons do is to remove the completely decayed part of the structure to ensure the integrity of the building, but the termites are not eliminated, and as long as this infestation continues, there are bound to be other parts of the building that will be completely destroyed and produce cancer someday. As you can see, after the drastic elimination of some of the serious threats, the treatment of the moths is the key to ensure the safety and security of the building. This is why hepatitis patients should actively visit infectious disease specialists after surgery to continue controlling and treating the hepatitis virus to try to slow down or avoid the transformation of hepatitis cirrhosis into liver cancer. It is believed that through the above explanation, patients have a rough understanding of where to go after liver cancer surgery, regular review and treatment of hepatitis must be done with both hands.