October 17, 2017 — The American College of Radiology (ACR) recently refined its standardized system for liver cancer screening and surveillance ultrasound imaging exams. These changes can help improve communication with referring clinicians and raise the quality of patient care, education and research.
“The new version of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) highlights technique, interpretation, reporting and data collection for screening and surveillance in patients the need for detecting liver cancer early, when it is potentially curable, by screening at-risk patients,” said Claude B. Sirlin, M.D., chair of the ACR Committee on LI-RADS. “We continually strive to improve LI-RADS to enhance communication with referring clinicians, speed accurate diagnosis and improve patient care,” he said.
The 24-page US LI-RADS has screening and surveillance categories, a visualization scoring system, and technical recommendations for performing a screening or surveillance ultrasound exam. “This represents the first standardized approach for interpreting and reporting these exams,” said Aya Kamaya, M.D., chair of the US LI-RADS Working Group that developed the new system.
Access to LI-RADS is free. The update was written by members of the US LI-RADS Working Group and approved by the LI-RADS Steering Committee.
For more information: www.acr.org
July 22, 2026 
