Abstract: Objective To discuss the necessity of multidisciplinary team (MDT) model for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods The clinical data of HCC patients admitted to our hospital from January 2010 to January 2018 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. Results The treatment of HCC in our hospital was mainly based on surgical resection and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). Among the patients who underwent surgical resection, some of them were operated with extended surgical indications. In the patients who received TACE therapy, some had single and smaller lesions without obtaining surgical treatment and showed an exponential decline in numbers for retreatment. Conclusion Surgical resection and TACE therapy belong to the surgical and internal medical systems separately. Due to a limitation in the knowledge systems, the specialists tend to predominately select and only focus on the HCC treatment with their own specialty, while lacking of knowledge and experience for the treatment methods in other disciplines. This exists in current practice of HCC treatment. In order to integrate the advantages of various treatment regimes and apply optimized treatment on HCC patients, it is necessary to carry out organized and systematic multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment.

Key words: Primary liver cancer, Treatment, Surgery, Hepatic artery chemoembolization, Multidisciplinary team