Attacking the public health crisis of hepatocellular carcinoma at its roots
Hannah M. Lee, Steven D. Lidofsky, Tamar H. Taddei, Lisa J. Townshend‐Bulson
Abstract
As the third most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide with significant mortality rates in the United States, hepatocellular carcinoma has strong association with cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) with a growing at-risk population from the rise in chronic liver disease from alcohol use and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Despite this, progress in identifying at-risk individuals and early detection of HCC in these populations have lagged behind treatment advances.The lack of consensus may undermine widespread adoption of surveillance programs, thus preventing HCC detection at a curable stage. This public policy corner piece focuses on opportunities for prevention of HCC by focusing on its principal risk factors: viral hepatitis, NAFLD, and alcohol-related liver disease, and three key action points to reverse the course of this public health crisis: 1) Awareness and education; 2) Screening and diagnosis, and 3) Partnerships and advocacy.