Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary malignant disease of the liver, and is the third most common cause of death among malignant diseases in the world. Globally, HCC is almost three times more common in men than in women. Since the disease is associated with cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis, the initial symptoms of this liver cancer are often associated with the symptoms of the underlying disease. Once the diagnosis is made, it is necessary to determine the grade of HCC in order to predict the outcome and provide an optimal treatment method. The main prognostic factors are tumor stage, liver function and general condition of the patient. There are many treatment options for hepatocellular carcinoma, but if possible, surgical treatment is the only potentially curative therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. Surgical treatment of HCC includes resection of the liver and liver transplantation. If the preoperative assesment determines that the tumor is resectable, the type and extent of resection is then determined. If resection cannot be performed and the patient fulfills the criteria for transplantation, then the only curative method is the liver transplantation. There are conflicting results comparing the effectiveness of liver resection and liver transplantation in early stages of cancer.