Epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

Along with the changes in our food culture and lifestyle, conditions such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome have been on the rise, and the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely related to these diseases, has also increased rapidly. Despite being a risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), NAFLD has no established screening method, and HCC originating from NAFLD often tends to be discovered in its advanced and symptomatic stages, which has become an important clinical problem. Even though the carcinogenicity rate among the entire population of NAFLD patients is not high compared to that of patients with viral hepatitis, since HCC also often develops from non-cirrhotic livers, it is difficult to narrow down the cases that need to be under surveillance. Going forward, it will be important to clarify the clinical characteristics and genetic background of NAFLD-related HCC and establish not only a useful surveillance method but also preventive methods.

Keywords

Hepatocellular carcinoma / nonalcoholic fatty liver disease / epidemiology

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