Follow‐up assessment
tumor
TUMOR, RECURRENCE, RECURRENCE, LUNG METASTASIS, BONE METASTASIS
For the first year after treatment, all patients were followed up on phone calls or outpatient services every 1–2 months, and then every 3 months thereafter. The following criteria confirmed recurrence: (1) Significantly elevated AFP levels in conjunction with one standard imaging modality (contrast‐enhanced ultrasonography, CT, or MRI); (2) if the AFP level is normal, at least two common imaging modalities simultaneously show the new lesion; (3) a new tumor biopsy that reveals a recurrent pathological diagnosis. Recurrence sites were classified as intrahepatic (including recurrence at the margin, adjacent segment, and distant segment) or extrahepatic(i.e., lung metastasis and bone metastasis). The endpoint of the follow‐up was June 30, 2021, with a median follow‐up of 28 months (range 3–84).