1.Hepatocellular carcinoma: A local registry on risk factors, imaging patterns, treatment strategies and overall survival
Manju Tambe Raja ; Nur Yazmin Yaacob ; Wong Zhiqin ; Chik Ian
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2021;76(2):151-156
Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the
common death-causing cancers worldwide. This liver
malignancy is primarily diagnosed using radiological
imaging techniques. Most of the patients in Malaysia present
late and were diagnosed at an intermediate or advanced
stage of Barcelona Clinic of Liver Cancer (BCLC). This
causes a limitation on the treatment options for the patients.
Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective crosssectional study of HCC cases within a five-year period in our
center with data collected from Hospital Canselor Tunku
Mukhriz (HCTM). This study examines the HCC risk factors,
the pattern of diagnosis, treatment options and overall
survival.
Results: The findings from this study showed that viral
hepatitis was the highest risk factor in which most of the
patients were elderly males who presented with abdominal
distension. In addition, given the high prevalence of
metabolic diseases Malaysia, it is predicted that the number
of non-alcoholic steatohepatosis (NASH)-related HCC cases
might increase. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) proved to have no
significant role in the detection of the disease. The number
of patients detected at early BCLC was minimal, resulting in
limited options of treatment. Overall survival of our HCC
patients was poor at 17 months.
Conclusion: We conclude that HCC patients in HCTM mostly
presented at late stage to hospital, hence limiting the
treatment options and resulted in poor survival rate. Disease
awareness should be implemented at primary care level to
detect HCC at its early stage. Subsequently, a
multidisciplinary hospital team is required to manage the
disease at its different stages of presentation.