Eligibility criteria
tumours, tumour, HCC
TUMOURS, METASTASIS, TUMOUR
Surgical procedures will be carried out by senior hepatobiliary surgeons. According to the international standard for laparoscopic liver surgery, each surgeon will need to have performed at least 55 resections classified as LMH to be included in the studyInclusion criteria consist of: a diagnosis of HCC as defined by the EASLExclusion criteria involve: previous treatment for HCC (for example transarterial chemoembolization or chemotherapy) and tumours requiring combined hepatectomy and thermal ablation therapy. Patients will also be excluded at the time of surgery (dropout) if there is: bilobar liver involvement; unexpected portal vein invasion and peritoneal metastasis not identified at preoperative imaging; liver remnant smaller than expected; or in both laparoscopic and open groups where the operating surgeon decides to abort the procedure due to locally advanced tumour condition before starting the resection phase. The patient flow chart is shown in Patient flow chartLMH, laparoscopic major hepatectomy; OMH, open major hepatectomy