2007 Volume 25 Pages 63-68
Chronic hepatitis C is a leading cause of hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. Interferon therapy decreases the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Prevention of chronic hepatitis C-related HCC is one of the most important issues in current hepatology. We previously reported that male gender and high-titer of HCV-RNA were predictive factors for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in the anti-HCV positive group. Clinical efforts of eradicating or reducing the viral load may reduce the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Furthermore, because hepatocellular carcinoma often recurs after ablation therapy, we performed a trial of interferon in patients with chronic liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) to investigate whether the interferon therapy decrease the recurrence after ablation therapy of hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma. By the interferon therapy as secondary prevention, we found that the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who had received complete tumor ablation might be associated with better survival, primarily as a result of the preservation of liver function and also probably the prevention of recurrence.
Postoperative interferon therapy appears to decrease recurrence after ablation therapy such as radiofrequency ablation therapy of hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.