A 2-year retrospective study of viral and host-associated risk factors in Pakistani hepatocellular carcinoma patients

Objective Persistent chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection is associated strongly with serious complications such as hepatitis C virus-associated liver cirrhosis (HCV-LC) and hepatitis C virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC). The aim of this study was to assess the distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes among HCV-positive patients and examine the potential associations between viral and host-associated factors with the risk of developing HCV-HCC. Patients and methods HCV-positive patients (n = 300) were enrolled and divided into three groups: CHC (n = 171), HCV-LC (n = 51), and HCV-HCC (n = 78). Results HCV genotype 3a showed the highest prevalence among HCV-positive individuals (66% of patients), followed by genotype 1a (15% of patients). The proportion of individuals infected with mixed HCV genotypes was higher among HCV-HCC patients. Interestingly, there were a significantly higher proportion of women (54/78; 69.2%) among HCV-HCC patients compared with CHC patients (89/171 or 52%; χ2 = 6.47; P=1 × 10−2). Women with HCV had two-fold higher odds of developing HCV-HCC (odds ratio = 2.07, 95% confidence interval: 1.18–3.71). In comparison with CHC patients, significantly more HCV-HCC patients were 50 years of age or older (59/78 or 75.6% of HCV-HCC patients and 61/171 or 35.7% of CHC patients; χ2 = 34.27; P
Source: European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: Original Articles: Hepatology Source Type: research