Surgical resection versus radiofrequency ablation for Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer very early stage hepatocellular carcinoma: long-term results of a single-center study

•Resection and local ablation are treatment options for early hepatocellular carcinoma.•Surgical resection appears to provide better long-term outcomes.•Tumor recurrence had significant survival impact in long-term follow-ups.•Survival rate from the time of tumor recurrence was similar between both treatment.