Important features that guide treatment include:

size
spread (stage)
involvement of liver vessels
presence of a tumor capsule
presence of extrahepatic metastases
presence of daughter nodules
vascularity of the tumorMRI is the best imaging method to detect the presence of a tumor capsule. The most common sites of metastasis are the lung, abdominal lymph nodes, and bone. Prevention
Since hepatitis B and C are some of the main causes of hepatocellular carcinoma, prevention of infection is key to then prevent HCC. Thus, childhood vaccination against hepatitis B may reduce the risk of liver cancer in the future. In the case of patients with cirrhosis, alcohol consumption is to be avoided. Also, screening for hemochromatosis may be beneficial for some patients. Whether screening those with chronic liver disease for HCC improves outcomes is unclear. Treatment
Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma varies by the stage of disease, a persons likelihood to tolerate surgery, and availability of liver transplant:

Curative intention: for limited disease, when the cancer is limited to one or more areas of within the liver, surgically removing the malignant cells may be curative. This may be accomplished by resection the affected portion of the liver (partial hepatectomy) or in some cases by orthotopic liver transplantation of the entire organ. "Bridging" intention: for limited disease which qualifies for potential liver transplantation, the person may undergo targeted treatment of some or all of the known tumor while waiting for a donor organ to become available. "Downstaging" intention: for moderately advanced disease which has not spread beyond the liver, but is too advanced to qualify for curative treatment.
For example, while some data support decreased mortality related to screening people with hepatitis B infection, the AASLD notes, “There are no randomized trials [for screening] in Western populations with cirrhosis secondary to chronic hepatitis C or fatty liver disease, and thus there is some controversy surrounding whether surveillance truly leads to a reduction in mortality in this population of patients with cirrhosis.”

Higher risk people
In a person where a higher suspicion of HCC exists, such as a person with symptoms or abnormal blood tests (i.e. alpha-fetoprotein and des-gamma carboxyprothrombin levels), evaluation requires imaging of the liver by CT or MRI scans. Optimally, these scans are performed with intravenous contrast in multiple phases of hepatic perfusion to improve detection and accurate classification of any liver lesions by the interpreting radiologist. Due to the characteristic blood flow pattern of HCC tumors, a specific perfusion pattern of any detected liver lesion may conclusively detect an HCC tumor. Alternatively, the scan may detect an indeterminate lesion and further evaluation may be performed by obtaining a physical sample of the lesion. Imaging
Ultrasound, CT scan, and MRI may be used to evaluate the liver for HCC. On CT and MRI, HCC can have three distinct patterns of growth:
A single large tumor
Multiple tumors
Poorly defined tumor with an infiltrative growth patternA systematic review of CT diagnosis found that the sensitivity was 68% (95% CI 55–80%) and specificity was 93% (95% CI 89–96%) compared with pathologic examination of an explanted or resected liver as the reference standard.