A prospective study of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence in thalassemia.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a complication of cirrhosis. Due to blood transfusions, patients with beta-thalassemia (thal) are often infected with either hepatitis C virus (HCV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV). In the past, many patients did not survive long enough to develop HCC. The recent improvements in prognosis have helped in the diagnosis of HCC that has developed. The aim of this study was to evaluate HCC incidence in beta-thal. We performed liver ultrasound (US) on all adults without a previous diagnosis of HCC. Risk factors (iron overload, HCV infection, HBV infection, cirrhosis) were evaluated. One hundred and eight thalassemia patients have been evaluated; of whom three were excluded (two patients as they were under the age of 18 years and one patient because he had a previous history of HCC). Seventy-two patients [31 had thalassemia major (TM), 41 had thalassemia intermedia (TI)] with risk factors (iron overload in 72, HCV infection in 46, HBV infection in two, cirrhosis in 10) and 33 (four with TM and 29 with TI) without risk factors underwent liver US. Overall, two patients were found to have a newly developed HCC. Of these two patients, one was treated with surgery and the other with percutaneous radiofrequency. Further follow-up did not show any evidence of recurrence after 23 and 15 months, respectively. Ultrasound screening can allow early detection and treatment of HCC in thalassemia patients.