Comparison of Viral Hepatitis-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Due to HBV and HCV - Cohort from Liver Clinics in Pakistan

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the first cause of death in cirrhotic patients, mostly dueto viral hepatitis with HCV or HBV infection. This study was performed to estimate the true prevalence ofviral hepatitis-related HCC and the demographic and clinical-pathological associations with the two virustypes. Materials and
Methods: This cross sectional observational study enrolled clinical data base of 188 HCCpatients and variables included from baseline were age, sex, area of residence, clinical-pathological featuressuch as underlying co-morbidity, presence or absence of liver cirrhosis, macrovascular involvement, tumorextension and metastasis, liver lobes involved, serum alpha-fetoprotein level, and hepatitis serologies.
Results:Overall prevalence of HCV- and HBV-related HCC was 66.0% and 34.0%, respectively. Patients with HCVwere more likely to develop HCC at advanced age (52.4±11.9 vs. 40.7±12.09 years), with highly raised serumAFP levels (≥400ng/ml) 78.2% (HBV 67.1%), large tumor size (HCV-66% >5 cm, HBV-59.3%), and presence ofportal vein thrombosis (8.06%, HBV 1.56%). A binominal multivariate analysis showed that HCV-HCC groupwere more likely to be cirrhotic (OR=0.245, 95%CI: 0.117, 0.516) and had more than two times higher rate ofsolitary macrovascular involvement (OR=2.533, 95%CI: 1.162, 5.521) as compared with HBV associated HCC.
Conclusions: Statistically significant variations were observed from baseline to clinical-pathological characteristicsin HCV vs HBV associated HCC. Our study suggests prompt and early screening for high risk patients so thatthe rate of progression of these chronic viral diseases to cirrhosis and cancer can be decreased.