Characteristics of patients with liver cancer in the BioBank Japan project.

Abstract

BackgroundLiver cancer is the fifth cause of cancer-related deaths in Japan. The BioBank Japan (BBJ) project included 200,000 patients with 47 diseases and samples; their clinical information can be used for further studies.MethodsPatients diagnosed with liver cancer (n = 1733; 1316 men, 417 women) were included. Histology, patient characteristics, clinical characteristics, and causes of death were collected. Cumulative and relative survival rates for liver cancer were calculated.ResultsOf the 1354 patients with available liver cancer histology, 91.9% had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Compared with the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, greater proportions of the male patients in this cohort were daily alcohol consumers (26%), and a greater proportion of the men was overweight/obesity (22%). Although Japan is the only Asian country with a predominance of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCC, the prevalence of HCV infection (44%) was lower than that in a previous study. The 3-, 5-, and 10-year cumulative survival rates were 57%, 47%, and 25% in men, respectively, and 49%, 41%, and 27% in women, respectively.ConclusionsThe present results provide an overview of the patients with liver cancer in the BBJ project. We are planning further analyses combined with various high-throughput ‘omics’ technologies.