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The results of a study by researchers at The University of Nottingham suggest that the risk of liver cancer in patients with cirrhosis may be much lower than previously thought.
Liver cancer – or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) – is one of the most serious complications of cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver, caused by long-term liver damage.
However, an analysis of health records, published in the academic journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, found that the 10-year incidence of HCC in UK patients with cirrhosis is actually only four per cent, or lower.
Joe West, Professor of Epidemiology in the University’s School of Medicine, led the study and believes that the results could better inform doctors on how best to focus resources for the benefit of patients with liver damage.
He said: “This very low incidence of HCC occurrence in people with cirrhosis caused by alcohol or of unknown origin suggests that surveillance for HCC among these groups is likely to benefit patients little.
“As surveillance incurs substantial cost, it is therefore unlikely to represent value for money for the NHS. There may well be other ways of spending this money that would benefit patients far more.”
Cirrhosis is caused by long-term damage to the liver, which leads to a build-up of scar tissue which replaces healthy tissue and eventually can result in liver failure.
The researchers identified more than 3,000 patients with cirrhosis of the liver using the UK’s General Practice Research Database between 1987 and 2006 and then cross-referenced this information with diagnoses of HCC on linked national cancer registries.
The study found that only 1.2 per cent of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and 1.1 per cent of patients with cirrhosis of unknown cause will develop HCC within a decade. The highest 10-year incidence of HCC was among those with cirrhosis due to chronic viral hepatitis (four per cent).
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with a “distinct” approach to internationalisation, which rests on those full-scale campuses in China and Malaysia, as well as a large presence in its home city.’ (Times Good University Guide 2016). It is also one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and was named University of the Year for Graduate Employment in the 2017 The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. It is ranked in the world’s top 75 by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16, and 8th in the UK for research power according to the Research Excellence Framework 2014. It has been voted the world’s greenest campus for four years running, according to Greenmetrics Ranking of World Universities.
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