What may be a good prognosis after resection of a segment containing focal primary hepatocellular carcinoma?

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A segmental (anatomic) resection of the segment that contains the tumor offers the best prognosis when the hepatocellular carcinoma is truly confined to that one segment. Removing just the involved segment aims for clear margins while preserving the rest of the liver, which is especially important in patients who often have underlying liver disease. This approach achieves oncologic control with less loss of functional liver tissue, and in carefully selected cases with adequate liver reserve, it can be curative or provide long-term disease control. Removing the entire lobe would be more extensive without necessarily providing additional benefit if the disease is limited to a segment, and palliative care or chemotherapy alone do not offer a potential cure, hence poorer prognosis in this scenario.