Early age at diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

We read with interest the large-scale multicountry study by Ju Dong Yang and colleagues,1 which described clinical characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Africa. The investigators reported that the median age of hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis was significantly lower in sub-Saharan Africa (46 years) than in Egypt (58 years; p<0·0001) and that younger age at diagnosis in sub-Saharan Africa was also seen after stratification by the underlying cause: hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV).