The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis B virus infected persons of different origins, living in Sweden

• Background and Aims: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is associated with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in both cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic persons. CHB patients with high risk for HCC are therefore recommended to undergo surveillance for HCC, with an estimated cut-off for surveillance in non-cirrhotic patients at incidence rate (IR) of 0.2% per year. People originating from Asia and men from Africa are estimated to have particularly high risks, but the IR for HCC when living in the Western world has not been fully estimated. Therefore, our aim was to study the incidence of HCC by age and origin in persons with CHB who are living in Sweden.Method: In this national population-based study all persons diagnosed with CHB in Sweden during 1990–2015, their country of birth, co-infections, antiviral therapy, liver cancer or death/emigration were identified retrospectively, using the national HBV-surveil-lance register and other national registers. Those co-infected with hepatitis C were excluded. Observation time started at date of reported CHB diagnosis. The IR was calculated for different age groups and by region of birth.Results: In total 16,410 persons (47% women) with CHB were studied. The number of persons and observation time (person-years) by origin were: Western Europe 2,316 (25,415); Eastern Europe 2,349 (26,237); Middle East/North Africa 4,402 (47,320); Sub-Saharan Africa 3,677 (30,565), Asia 3,537 (35,358) and other 129 (1,277). Those from Sub-Saharan Africa were youngest and had the shortest mean time in Sweden, 11.6 years. There were in total 232 diagnosed HCCs (82% in men); 23, 54 and 58 in people from Sub-Saharan Africa ,Asia and Middle East/North Africa, respectively. The corresponding mean ages at HCC diagnoses were 45, 51 and 59 years, respectively. The IRexceeded 0.2% for men from Asia from age-group≥40–49 years (IR 0.63, 95%CI 0.39–1.00), and for men of all other origins from age-group≥50–59 years. Among African men aged <40 yearstherewere 7 HCC, with incidence rate 0.05 and 0.11 in age groups 20–29 and 30–39 years, respectively. In women, HCC was rare but exceeded 0.2% among those aged≥60 years with origins from East Europe, Asia and Middle East/North Africa.Conclusion: In this study only men of Asian origin exceeded the cut-off for HCC surveillance by ages 40–49 years. African men had a few HCCs at youngerages, but did not exceed the cut-off before age 50–59 years. This study confirms the high risk for HCC in especially Asian men living in the Western world, but questions the benefit of surveillance at younger ages for men with African origin who live in a Northern European country

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Gastroenterologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Gastroenterology and Hepatology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

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