Hepatitis B vaccination: an important method of preventing HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a multifactorial disease which requires multiple strategies for its prevention, including immunization against hepatitis type B. Given the link between chronic HBV infection and HCC, vaccination against hepatitis B preventing an initial infection and the development of chronic carrier state is also likely to prevent HCC. The percentage of HCC cases attributable to HBV, which depends on both relative risk for HCC associated with the HBsAg carrier state and prevalence of HBsAg carriers in a particular population, is much higher in HBV hyperendemic countries than in those at low endemicity. Thus prevention of HCC by hepatitis B vaccination should have the highest benefit in areas at high level of endemicity. Unfortunately, the poor health-care resources make the establishment of mass-immunization campaigns against HBV difficult in most of these countries.