Screening for hepatocellular carcinoma: being old is not all bad.

There has been a remarkable rise in incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States and the developed Western world over the last few decades (1). This has been attributed largely to the emergence of hepatitis C over the same period of time. Other possible factors operative in the United States contributing to this rise in incidence include chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among immigrants from countries with a high prevalence of HBV and a rise in prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Thus, specialized liver centers have to deal with larger number of patients with HCC. Copyright 2004 American College of Gastroenterology