Insufficient volume of future liver remnant (FLR) often leads to the complications including liver failure and even death and thus remains a bottleneck for liver surgery. Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) is a newly developed two-stage hepatectomy procedure which can promote rapid regeneration of FLR, but the related mechanism has not yet been elucidated. With reference to the recent research advances in China and foreign countries, this article reviews the hemodynamic and humoral factors for ALPPS in promoting liver regeneration, the effect of ALPPS on liver parenchymal cells, and the role of non-parenchymal liver cells (including hepatic stellate cells, natural killer cells, macrophages, and liver progenitor/stem cells) in regulating liver regeneration. It is pointed out that the interaction between non-parenchymal liver cells and parenchymal cells is a hotspot in the research on the mechanism of liver regeneration after ALPPS.

Primary liver cancer is a malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality in the world, and it is also a common malignant tumor of digestive tract in China. With the development of medical technology and the deepening of minimally invasive concept, minimally invasive therapy has gradually become the main treatment of liver cancer. Through the visual analysis of Cite Space bibliometrics study, the authors visually show the basic knowledge structure and evolution in the field of minimally invasive treatment of liver cancer, and explore the frontier hotspots and future development trends, so as to provide reference for scientific research and application in this field.