Between July 1973 and September 1988, 119 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma underwent hepatic resection at Keio University Hospital, Tokyo. Hepatic resection was performed not only for patients with liver cirrhosis and obstructive jaundice but also for patients with advanced disease. Eighty (67.2%) of the 119 patients had liver cirrhosis and four patients had obstructive jaundice. Two or more segments of the liver were resected in 56 (47.0%) patients, 29 of whom had liver cirrhosis. Eleven patients died within 30 days after surgery, an operative mortality rate of 9.2%. Seven additional patients could not be discharged from the hospital, resulting in a hospital death rate of 5.9%. Seventeen of these 18 patients had cirrhosis. Selection of patients with sufficient reserve function of the remaining liver portion, caused a great reduction of the incidence of postoperative death. The 5-year actuarial survival rate for the 101 patients who were discharged from the hospital was 39%, and 13 patients lived longer than 5 years, the longest survival period being 13 years 10 months. Hepatocellular carcinoma is amenable to hepatic resection if patients with sufficient reserve function of the liver are selected.