Hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of two different periods at the same center.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the main etiological factors and some clinical characteristics of patients with HCC at diagnosis and to compare them with those we described ten years ago.


METHODS
179 patients were included in Group 1, while 132 patients were included in Group 2. For all patients age, sex, serum markers of hepatitis B and C viruses, alcohol consumption, serum alpha feto-protein (AFP) levels and the main liver function parameters at HCC diagnosis were recorded.


RESULTS
Mean age was 66.0 years for Group 1 and 69.0 for Group 2 (P=0.005). HCV was responsible for 80.3% of HCC cases in Group 2 versus 72% in Group 1 (P=0.005). HBV alone and co-infection of HCV+HBV decreased, but not significantly. In Group 1 only four patients had an underlying normal liver, while in Group 2 no patients showed an underlying normal liver (P=ns). HCC was more frequently associated with Child class A in Group 2 (P=0.0001), whereas in Group 1 it was more frequently associated with class C (P=0.0001). Staging of HCC correlated inversely when patients of Groups 1 and 2 were compared (P<0.03). AFP serum levels were above normal in 72% of cases in Group 1 and in 41.5% in Group 2 (P=0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that over the last decade a number of characteristics of patients with HCC in our region have changed, particularly age at onset of HCC, staging of underlying liver disease and staging of HCC.
Soresi
Maurizio
M
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e delle Patologie Emergenti, Cattedra di Medicina Interna, Università di Palermo, Italy.
La Spada
Emanuele
E
Giannitrapani
Lydia
L
Campagna
Elisa
E
Di Gesaro
Valeria
V
Granà
Walter
W
Sandonato
Luigi
L
Brancatelli
Giuseppe
G
Rotolo
Giuseppe
G
Affronti
Andrea
A
Messina
Salvatore
S
Montalto
Giuseppe
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013997:Time Factors; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis
D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins