Hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract:

Hepatocellular carcinoma is associated with chronic liver disease, usually cirrhosis, in more than 90% of the cases. Most liver diseases, including liver tumours, have non-specific, mild and subtle clinical symptoms, which become more manifest only in advanced stages of the disease. The treatment modality depends on the size of the primary tumour, number of local lesions and functional liver reserve. The therapy of choice is surgical resection, although chemotherapy has been administered in recent years with more success than previously. Sorafenib has been recently registered and authorized for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, because it significantly improves their overall survival rate. Routine screening of the population at risk consists of six-month examinations, alpha-fetoprotein determination and liver ultrasound. 

Key words:
carcinoma, hepatocellular; hepatitis C; liver cirrhosis; sorafenib