title: Current treatment of primary tumors of the liver in Japan.
abstract: The number of patients dying from primary malignant tumors of the liver in Japan has steadily increased during the last two decades. There are several epidemiological and clinical characteristics of primary malignant tumors of the liver in Japan, among which are: (I) hepatocellular carcinomas (hepatomas) which comprise approximately 90% of the cases; (2) high association of hepatoma with viral hepatitis and with consequent liver cirrhosis (over 85%); and (3) male predominance (5-6 to 1 male-to-female ratio). In recent years, more and more smaller hepatomas are being detected due to the efficient and liberal use of ultrasonography on high risk patients, and hepatic resections of limited extent such as segmentectomy and subsegmentectomy are now becoming increasingly common surgical procedures. This article will present an overview of current status of treatment of patients with hepatoma in Japan, and the information contained may prove to be useful for clinical management of Western patients, though some of their epidemiological features differ significantly from those of Japanese patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-II, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tajima
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-II, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-II, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Makuuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-II, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mitomi