Characterization of hepatocellular carcinoma in Mexico

Introduction and aims: In Mexico, complications of cirrhosis are the third leading cause of death in adult males. In recent decades, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma has increased worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at two Mexican tertiary care hospitals.

Material and methods: An observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted between January 2008 and April 2014. We described the clinical features, epidemiologic characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Results: One hundred and forty-eight patients were included. There was a predominance in males and disease manifestation in the sixth decade of life. Liver disease was associated in 87% of subjects and was mainly attributed to alcohol abuse, hepatitis C infection, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Sixty percent (60%) of cases were classified as Child-Pugh stage A cirrhosis, 75.5% harbored a single tumor at diagnosis, 27.7% had normal alpha-fetoprotein values, and only 39.2% of patients with known liver disease were under a surveillance program. Tumors were larger than 5cm at diagnosis in 64.3% of patients, and well-differentiated lesions were most frequently detected. Over 70% of patients were diagnosed at a non-curative stage. By the 2014 study cutoff point, 77.7% of patients had died. Treatment was determined by the means available at each center and followed the therapeutic recommendations in international guidelines in 45.3% of cases, clearly impacting survival.

Conclusions: Better surveillance methods are required to diagnose the disease at its early stages, but treatment still requires individual adaptation to each center's available resources.