Summary: In Poland, mortality caused by liver cirrhosis is rising and this disease is becoming a major health problem. Cirrhosis is most often a consequence of chronic viral hepatitis C and fatty liver due to alcoholism or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. The underlying cause of liver disease determines its natural history, and in some patients cirrhosis develops rapidly (years) and in others more slowly (decades). Until recently cirrhosis was considered a terminal disease stage, with an inevitably poor prognosis. Now it is known that compensated and decompensated cirrhosis are completely different conditions in terms of prognosis. The term “advanced chronic liver disease” reflects the continuum of histological changes corresponding to the 3rd and 4th stages of fibrosis. At this stage the disease often cannot be recognized by physical examination and routine liver function tests, but its diagnosis requires imaging methods, elastography and serum markers of fibrosis. The idea of treating cirrhosis complications as they occur should be replaced by the idea of preventing the advent of all complications while in the compensated liver disease. In this century cirrhosis should be regarded as a potentially treatable disease.