Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) in Egypt: A comprehensive overview

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a universal problem and its epidemiological data showed variation from place to place. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth and fourth common cancer in worldwide and Egypt, respectively. Egypt ranks the third and 15 th most populous country in Africa and worldwide, respectively. The aim of this review is to compare the status of HCC in Egypt to that in the worldwide from different issues; risk factors, screening and surveillance, diagnosis and treatment, prevention, as well as research strategy. Main body: The risk factors for HCC in Egypt are of great importance to be reported. The risk factor for HCC are either environmental-or host/genetic-related risk factors. In the last years, there is a tangible improvement of both screening and surveillance strategies of HCC in Egypt. The unprecedented national screening campaign launched by the end of 2018 is a mirror image of this improvement. While the improvement of the HCC prevention requires the governmental health administration to implement health policies. Although the diagnosis of Egyptian HCC patients follows the international guidelines but HCC treatment options are limited in terms of cost. In addition, there are limited Egyptian reports about HCC survival and relapse. Both basic and clinical HCC research in Egypt are still limited compared to worldwide. Short conclusion: Deep analysis and understanding of factors affecting HCC burden variation worldwide help in customization of efforts exerted to face HCC in different countries especially large country like Egypt. Overall, the presence of a research strategy to fight HCC in Egyptian patients will help in the optimum allocation of available resources to reduce the numbers of HCC cases and deaths and to improve the quality of life.

Increased fibrillarin expression is associated with tumor progression and an unfavorable prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…In addition to liver resection and liver transplantation, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and transarterial chemoembolization are used to treat advanced HCC (5)(6)(7). However, patients with HCC suffer from a high prevalence of mortality and recurrence (5,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11). Thus, identification of novel effective targets for the treatment of advanced HCC remains essential.…”

Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy of serum calcium channel α2δ1 subunit in hepatocellular carcinoma-related cirrhosis

“…Liver malignancy is the sixth commonest malignancy worldwide with an incidence of approximately 841,000 new cases in 2018 [1], of which hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents 80% [2], and considered the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide [3]. In Egypt, HCC is the fourth common cancer [4].…”

Gene Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Highlighting the Journey from Theory to Clinical Applications

“…[ 1 ] Epidemiological studies have shown that the highest incidence rates of HCC occur in developing countries, with endemic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, exerting an increasing load on health care budgets. [ 1,2 ] The currently available treatment strategies for HCC include surgical interventions and local radiotherapy that are beneficial only for early‐stage patients with localized liver tumors who show a good response to the treatment and have a good survival rate. On the other hand, treating advanced stages of HCC is much more difficult and the survival rate has not significantly improved in the past three decades.…”