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 dedicated to the proceedings of the Congress of Hepatobiliary Surgery about to be held in Croatia.

This focused issue is available on: https://www.thehbsn.org/issue/view/232.

Leonardo Patrlj. Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
Mario Kopljar, MD, PhD. Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
Yuman Fong. City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA