Aoki T, Kubota K, Hasegawa K, et al. - Researchers examined how surgical margin status influences outcomes in patients undergoing anatomical or non-anatomical resection for solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). From a nationwide survey database in Japan, they obtained data of 4,457 patients with solitary HCC who had undergone non-anatomical partial resection (Hr0 group) and data of 3,507 patients with anatomical resection of one Couinaud segment (HrS group) between 2000 and 2007. Both groups exhibited poor overall survival in correlation with a microscopically positive surgical margin. Only in the Hr0 group, they observed poorer overall and recurrence-free survival in correlation with a negative but 0-mm surgical margin than a wider margin. In the HrS group, no association of the width of the surgical margin with patient outcome was observed. These findings indicate the acceptability of anatomical resection with a negative 0-mm surgical margin and suggest a less favorable survival outcome in correlation with non-anatomical resection with a negative 0-mm margin.