Association of weight change in young adulthood with subsequent risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: a national cohort study.

Abstract

Risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in young adults might be clinically overlooked for future HCC risk. Thus, we examined the association between weight change and future risk of developing HCC in young adults. We collected a nationwide and population-based cohort data of more than 2.2 million men and women aged between 20 and 39 who were without previous cancer diagnosis and underwent two consecutive biennial national health screening between 2002 and 2005 from the National Health Insurance Service database. The individuals were categorized as weight loss (≥5.0 kg and 2.0-4.9 kg), stable weight (weight gain or loss <2.0 kg), and weight gain (2.0-4.9 kg and ≥5.0 kg) and were followed-up for incident HCC from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2018. During 12 years of follow-up, there were 2694 HCCs in men and 306 HCCs in women. In the multivariable Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for socioeconomic, health behavior, medical characteristics, and family history, weight gain of more than 5.0 kg and between 2.0 and 4.9 kg were associated with significantly increased risk in young men [hazard ratio (HR) 1.16, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 1.01-1.32] and young women (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.01-1.77), respectively. Protective association of weight loss with HCC was not observed. The association of weight gain and HCC risk was stronger in young adults with underlying liver diseases compared to those without any liver disease (Pheterogeneity < 0.001). Weight gain during young adulthood should not be clinically overlooked for future HCC risk, especially among those with underlying liver diseases.