Abstract
BACKGROUND: Surgery is the standard treatment for primary tumors and metastases. Due to improvements in surgical outcomes as well as the efficacy of systemic treatments, the role of surgery has changed in recent years. SUMMARY: Liver surgery has become safe and efficient, with resectability being increased by multimodality concepts as well as staged liver resections and orthotopic liver transplantation. These concepts may be applied to primary liver tumors but also to selected patients with liver metastases from various diseases. In addition, even debulking surgery may be indicated for selected patients with endocrine metastases. While patient selection for liver resections was limited to clinical parameters in the past, histological and molecular characteristics have become increasingly important. Moreover, the response to regional or systemic chemotherapy has been demonstrated to be strong for a beneficial course of the disease even in advanced diseases. KEY-MESSAGES: Due to the variety of available treatment options, optimal patient selection is crucial. Besides liver surgery, staged concepts as well as liver transplantation are curative tools for many patients.