Maturation of HBP surgery: worldwide advances to address worldwide problems
The evolution of hepatobiliary pancreatic surgery in the last two decades has been remarkable. The improvements in technical surgery, anesthesia, and technology now allow extraordinarily safe surgery. Whereas major hepatectomies or pancreatectomies until recently were performed at few centers due to the enormous risk, they are now common place operations being performed even on the elderly patient. Advances in neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and ablative therapies now allow for many more patients to be eligible for life-prolonging surgeries and for better long-term outcome. Cancers such as cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder cancer, or metastatic colorectal cancer, which were largely incurable only three decades before are now routinely resected and result in long-term survival and possibly cured. This progress and the current state of the treatment for many of the hepatobiliary malignancies are summarized in this issue of the Hepatobiliary Surgery and Nutrition (HBSN) dedicated to the proceedings of the Congress of Hepatobiliary Surgery about to be held in Croatia.
The advances in treatment of liver cancer have consequences throughout the world. Due to the high prevalence of viral hepatitis and the associated liver cancers, hepatobiliary malignancies are some of the most common malignancies globally. It is fitting that contributions to the improvement in surgical care of these malignancies have come from surgeons, anesthesiologists, and scientists worldwide. The authorship of this journal issue includes many of the luminary and most innovative investigators in this field, and include international expert surgeons and educators from Europe, Asia, and America. We thank them for their contribution to this Journal, to the Congress, and for their dedication to these patients and to the field. We also look forward to seeing these surgeons and physicians in beautiful Split for a few days of scholarship, of mutual education, and of camaraderie.
Few solid tumors can be cured without surgical therapy. Thus, advances that result in safer operations increases potential for cure. In order for this field to have moved so quickly in the last years is due not only to scientists, engineers, and clinicians, but also due to those who have enrolled in the necessary trials. We therefore thank the patients who have contributed to the advances, and whose diseases are the targets that push us to create new solutions.
Gratitude also goes to our post-docs, research fellows and colleagues that help us gather data, refine our hypothesis, and design the next tools. We thank the editors and staff of HBSN, but particularly Editor-in-Chief Yilei Mao and Editor Eunice X. Xu for their support. Finally, we thank our families for the patience and support they have given us to do our investigative and clinical work, and for helping us put together this international meeting.
