Comparisons of Viral Etiology and Outcomes of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Liver Resection between Taiwan and Vietnam

Abstract

Epidemiologic data have suggested that etiologic variations of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exist in different geographic areas, and might be associated with different outcomes. We compared the viral etiology, clinicopathological characteristics and surgical outcomes between 706 Taiwanese and 1704 Vietnamese patients with HCC undergoing liver resection. Vietnamese patients had a significantly higher ratio of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (p p p p = 0.001, respectively). The HCC patients in Vietnam had significantly higher serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels (p p p p p p < 0.001). In conclusion, although the viral etiology and clinicopathological characteristics of HCC differed, postoperative overall survival was comparable between patients in Taiwan and Vietnam.

Keywords

• hepatocellular carcinoma
• hepatitis B virus
• hepatitis C virus
• recurrence
• survival