Hepatocellular carcinoma in sub-Saharan (tropical) Africa.

Primary cancer of the parenchymal cells of the liver--hepatocellular carcinoma--is much more common in Africa (and Southeast Asia) than in Europe and North America. The very high incidence of this tumour is one of the outstanding problems of medicine in tropical countries. There is no doubt that it was already widespread in Africa before urbanization and industrialization. In this article the characteristics of hepatocellular cancer in the tropical (sub-Saharan) part of Africa are briefly reviewed.