Hepatocellular carcinoma detected by regular surveillance: Does timely confirmation of diagnosis matter?

Liver stiffness and insulin resistance in predicting recurrence for early stage hepatoma patients after curative resection

Curative resection is recommended for patient with early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, the prognosis is limited by high recurrence rate. This study was to investigate liver stiffness (LS) and metabolic factor in prediction of HCC recurrence for patients with early stage HCC who had undergone curative resection. Consecutive patients with suspicion of HCC who had undergone curative resection were prospectively enrolled. Transient elastography was performed to determine LS pre-operatively. The demographics, clinical characteristics and histological findings were recorded. All patients were followed up regularly until recurrence, death or last visit. Ninety-four patients with early stage HCC were enrolled. LS positively correlated with fibrosis stage (r = 0.666). In a median follow-up of 3.2 years, forty patients developed recurrences including 22 recurrences after 1-year post resection. The 5-year cumulative recurrence rate was 44.2%. LS was the independent factor associated with recurrence. Patients with LS > 8.5 kPa had higher 5-year cumulative recurrence rate (59.8% vs 25.1%, p = 0.007). For the prediction of recurrence after 1-year post resection, LS > 8.5 kPa (hazard ratio 2.72) and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (hazard ratio 1.24) were independent factors in multivariate analysis. Those patients with both LS > 8.5 kPa and HOMA-IR > 2.3 had the highest recurrence rate after 1-year post resection.

Only one-third of hepatocellular carcinoma cases are diagnosed via screening or surveillance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND/OBJECTS

Early hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis is associated with better long-term survival. Studies of at-risk patients who are monitored in routine practice have reported an overall adherence rate to hepatocellular carcinoma screening/surveillance of approximately 60% and suboptimal diagnostic efficacy of the current screening/surveillance tools. However, it is unclear how many hepatocellular carcinoma patients were actually diagnosed via screening/surveillance given these obstacles. Therefore, via a systematic review of PubMed and Scopus databases from 2000 to 2019, we aimed to identify the proportion of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed via screening/surveillance in routine practice.

METHODS

We included original research articles of studies of patients already diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma that reported the proportion of hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed via screening/surveillance.

RESULTS

The study included 60 studies and 50 554 hepatocellular carcinoma cases. The pooled proportion of hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed by screening/surveillance was 37% (95% confidence interval: 31%-44%) and differed by geographic region (North America/Asia/Europe/Oceania/Africa/South America, 31%/42%/41%/30%/29%/47%, P = 0.017, respectively) and by surveillance interval (<12 months 39% vs. 12 months 19%, P < 0.01) but not by disease etiology, cirrhosis status, clinical setting, practice setting, hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis period, or surveillance method.

CONCLUSION

Globally, hepatocellular carcinoma was diagnosed via screening/surveillance in less than half of the patients (37%) regardless of healthcare setting or liver disease etiology and without improvement over time despite several recent guideline updates. Research is needed to understand the barriers to screening/surveillance to include medical as well as social and cultural influences.

Mortality from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Western Europe over the last 40 years

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are highly prevalent in Europe, with accompanying high mortality rates and social costs. As epidemiological data on these diseases are scarce, age-standardized death rate (ASDR) can serve as an indirect assessment of their burden.

METHODS

We analysed the ASDRs for LC and HCC from data reported in the WHO official death registries from 1970 to 2010, and compared ASDRs over the decades. The European Detailed Mortality Database was also used as source of data.

RESULTS

In 1970, Portugal had the highest reported mortality for LC, followed by France and Italy. However, in 2010, Finland, Austria and Germany were respectively the three highest, while the UK showed the highest increase over those four decades (+284.8%). The annual ASDRs for LC have dropped in Europe from 20.4/10⁵ inhabitants in 1970 to 9.6 in 2010; a 53% decrease. For HCC, Spain, Italy and Denmark were ranked first through third, while in 2010 Italy, France and Luxembourg replaced them. Portugal had the highest increase (+654.7%). In 1980-2010, the ASDR for HCC in Europe increased from 3.4/10⁵ inhabitants to 6.3, up 85.4%. In the majority of nations-except for the UK, Finland and Ireland-there was a decrease in LC mortality and an increase for HCC mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The LC mortality rate is decreasing in Europe, yet there is a significant increase in HCC mortality. This phenomenon requires greater attention so we can understand the risk factors and implement preventive measures.