ABSTRACT
Epidemiology There is strong epidemiological evidence of a close association between chronic infection with Hepatitis B and C and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. The relative risks for a patient who is a chronic Hepatitis B carrier has been calculated to be in the vicinity of 14 and for a Hepatitis C carrier has been estimated as 27. Chronic Hepatitis of whatever course progressing to cirrhosis remains the most important causal factor for liver cancer. (It has been proposed that during the course of Hepatitis B the virus DNA is integrated into the host DNA accompanied by chromosomal deletions and translocations. The exact mechanism whereby the hepatitis virus leads to the development of cancer is unknown.) The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma varies markedly worldwide.
