Association between complicated liver cirrhosis and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in Taiwan.

Ming-Kun Ku,Chih-Ming Liang,Kuo-Lun Tseng,Kai-Lung Tsai,Wei-Chen Tai,Chien-Ning Hsu,Cheng-Kun Wu,Seng-Howe Nguang,Deng-Chyang Wu,Seng-Kee Chuah,Do Young Kim,Lan-Ting Yuan,Jiunn-Wei Wang,Tsung-Hsing Hung,Shih-Cheng Yang,Pin-I Hsu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181858

Abstract

Hepatic encephalopathy, ascites, and variceal bleeding are the three major complications of cirrhosis. It is well known that cirrhosis is the most important risk factor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, little is known about whether the severity of liver cirrhosis has an effect on the incidence of HCC. This population-based cohort study aimed to explore the association between complicated cirrhosis and HCC, and identify the risk factors of HCC in patients with complicated cirrhosis. Data of the years 1997–2011 were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. A total of 2568 patients with complicated cirrhosis without HCC at baseline were enrolled. After propensity score matching, another 2568 patients with non-complicated cirrhosis were included. Hazards Cox regression analysis by using a competing risk regression model to control for possible confounding factors was utilized to estimate the association of the complications of liver cirrhosis with the risk of HCC. We observed by using competing risk analysis that the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for developing HCC during the follow-up period after the initial hospitalization was higher among the patients with baseline complicated cirrhosis than in those with uncomplicated cirrhosis (HR, 1.23; 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.10–1.37, p<0.001). Additionally, older patients (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.01–1.02, p<0.001), males (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74–0.96, p = 0.009), and patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis (HR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.65–2.26, p<0.001) had a statistically significant difference in the incidence of HCC. In conclusion, complicated liver cirrhosis is associated with a higher risk of HCC in Taiwan compared with cirrhosis without complications.

Highlights

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents 70%-85% of primary liver malignancies [1,2]
It is well known that cirrhosis is the most important risk factor of HCC [3,4,5,6,7,8], little is known about whether the severity of cirrhosis can affect the development of HCC in patients with cirrhosis
We evaluated the risk of developing HCC in different severities of liver cirrhosis

Summary

Introduction

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents 70%-85% of primary liver malignancies [1,2]. It is well known that most cases of HCC are associated with cirrhosis regardless of the etiology [3,4,5,6,7,8]. The 5-year cumulative risk of developing HCC for patients with cirrhosis ranges between 5% and 30% [3, 4]. The mortality of patients with cirrhosis with cirrhosis-related complications is high and many of them die before they develop HCC [9,10,11]. It has not been reported whether the complications of cirrhosis are associated with the development of HCC. Since cirrhosis is the most important risk factor of HCC, it will be interesting to know the difference in the incidence of HCC between the sexes in patients with cirrhosis, especially in those with complications

Methods

Results

Conclusion