Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Causes and Prevention

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary malignancy of the liver and occurs predominantly in patients with underlying chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. It is considered as the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide with over 500,000 people affected. Incidence of the HCC is highest in Asia and Africa, where the endemic high prevalence of hepatitis B and C strongly predisposes to development of the chronic liver disease and subsequent development of HCC. In most cases, the cause of liver cancer is long-term damage and scarring of the liver cirrhosis that may be caused by viral infections (Virus B or C) or non-viral causes such as non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), autoimmune diseases, inflammation of the liver (chronic), obesity, diabetes, alcohol consumption, smoking, iron overload in the body (hemochromatosis) and the exposure to aflatoxin. The recent studies concluded that vaccination and the antiviral treatment are the most important ways for the HCC prevention.