Epidemiology

Physics

Internal medicine

Liver cancer

Viral hepatitis

Liver disease

Hepatocellular carcinoma

Disease

Pathogenesis

Obesity

Incidence (geometry)

Gastroenterology

Optics

Cancer

Insulin resistance

Hepatitis B

Fatty liver

Risk factor

Medicine

World Journal of Gastroenterology

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the commonest primary cancer of the liver.Incidence is increasing and HCC has risen to become the 5th commonest malignancy worldwide and the third leading cause of cancerrelated death, exceeded only by cancers of the lung and stomach [1] .The estimated incidence of new cases is about 500 000-1 000 000 per year, causing 600 000 deaths globally per year [2][3][4][5][6] .However, important differences have been noted between countries.Most cases of HCC occur in Asia [1] where several countries, particularly in East Asia, have a very high incidence (over 20 cases/100 000 population).For example, the incidence is 99 per 100 000 persons in Mongolia, 49 per 100 000 in Korea, 29 per 100 000 in Japan, and 35 per 100 000 in China [3] .Hong Kong and Thailand also have similarly high rates.Another region of concern is sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the western region of Africa, including Gambia, Guinea, and Mali, and also the Republic of Mozambique in south-east Africa.Areas with moderately high risk (11 cases/100 000-20 cases/100 000) include Italy, Spain and Latin American countries, and those at intermediate risk (5 cases/100 000-10 cases/100 000) include France, the United Kingdom, and the Federal Republic of Germany.A relatively low incidence (less than 5 cases/10 000) is found in the United States, Canada, and in Scandinavia.However, there are large areas of the world where the incidence is still unknown [3,7,8] .

Hepatocellular carcinoma: Epidemiology, risk factors and pathogenesis