Health AI Central
Peer-Reviewed Publication
J Hepatol2026;85(1):165-173.July 1, 2026Journal Article

BCLC classification and AI-based image quantification: What is meant to be will come together - but how and when?

Lukas Müller1, Jakob N Kather2, Jens U Marquardt3, Maria Reig4, Qiang Wang5, Daniel Pinto Dos Santos1, Roman Kloeckner6
1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
2Else Kroener Fresenius Center for Digital Health, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Department of Medicine I, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, TUD Dresden University of Technology, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Medical Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
3Department of Internal Medicine 1, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein - Campus Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany.
4Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas, Madrid, Spain; Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) Group, Liver Oncology Unit, Liver Unit, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
5Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) Group, Liver Oncology Unit, Liver Unit, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
6Institute of Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein - Campus Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany. Electronic address: roman.kloeckner@uksh.de.
PubMed DOI

Abstract

The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification has been the mainstay for prognostic assessment and initial treatment selection in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for more than two decades. It is widely clinically accepted and has been reaffirmed in the recently updated European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Clinical Practice Guidelines on the management of HCC. Its design i…

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