Trends in treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in Japan, and it has gradually decreased in the last quarter century. The reason for the decrease in HCC patients is the decrease of patients with hepatitis C virus due to avoiding unnecessary blood transfusions and development of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs), which have been available since 2014, along with interferon and oral antiviral agents in Japan. On the...