title: Growth rate of early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic liver disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to estimate the growth rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and identify the host factors that significantly affect this rate.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with early-stage HCC (n=175) who underwent two or more serial dynamic imaging studies without any anticancer treatment at two tertiary care hospitals in Korea were identified. For each patient, the tumor volume doubling time (TVDT) of HCC was calculated by comparing tumor volumes between serial imaging studies. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from the medical records of the patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median TVDT was 85.7 days, with a range of 11 to 851.2 days. Multiple linear regression revealed that the initial tumor diameter (a tumor factor) and the etiology of chronic liver disease (a host factor) were significantly associated with the TVDT. The TVDT was shorter when the initial tumor diameter was smaller, and was shorter in HCC related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection than in HCC related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (median, 76.8 days vs. 137.2 days; P=0.0234).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The etiology of chronic liver disease is a host factor that may significantly affect the growth rate of early-stage HCC, since HBV-associated HCC grows faster than HCV-associated HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chansik
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Youn Ah
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dongil
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Myeong-Jin
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Woon
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang-Hyub
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Suk
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents
keywords: Follow-up studies; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver neoplasm; Surveillance; Tumor burden