Features of hepatocellular carcinoma in cases with autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize the clinical features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with autoimmune liver disease, we critically evaluated the literature on HCC associated with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).


METHODS
A systematic review of the literature was conducted using the Japana Centra Revuo Medicina database which produced 38 cases of HCC with AIH (AIH-series) and 50 cases of HCC with PBC (PBC-series). We compared the clinical features of these two sets of patients with the general Japanese HCC population.


RESULTS
On average, HCC was more common in men than in women with AIH or PBC. While many patients underwent chemolipiodolization (CL) or transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) (AIH-series: P = 0.048 (vs operation), P = 0.018 (vs RFA, PEIT); PBC-series: P = 0.027 (vs RFA, PEIT), others refused therapeutic interventions [AIH-series: P = 0.038 (vs RFA, PEIT); PBC-series: P = 0.003 (vs RFA, PEIT)]. Liver failure was the primary cause of death among patients in this study, followed by tumor rupture. The survival interval between diagnosis and death was fairly short, averaging 14 +/- 12 mo in AIH patients and 8.4 +/- 14 mo in PBC patients.


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated common clinical features among Japanese cases of HCC arising from AIH and PBC.
Watanabe
Takuya
T
Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Medical Hospital, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Niigata, 1-8 Hamauracho, Chu-o-ku, Niigata 951-8580, Japan. nabetaku@dia-net.ne.jp
Soga
Kenji
K
Hirono
Haruka
H
Hasegawa
Katsuhiko
K
Shibasaki
Koichi
K
Kawai
Hirokazu
H
Aoyagi
Yutaka
Y
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D019693:Hepatitis, Autoimmune / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008105:Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary / Q000150:complications*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors