Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Mar;27(1):47-52.
doi: 10.3904/kjim.2012.27.1.47. Epub 2012 Feb 28.

Risk factors of cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with low body mass index or without metabolic syndrome

Hwa Young Song  1 , Hyo Keun Lee, June Sung Lee, Jong Yeon Kim, Yun Hyuk Yim, Tae Jun Song, Won Ki Bae, Nam-Hoon Kim, Kyung-Ah Kim
Affiliations

Risk factors of cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with low body mass index or without metabolic syndrome

Hwa Young Song et al. Korean J Intern Med. 2012 Mar.

Abstract

Background/aims: Many patients are diagnosed with cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without metabolic syndrome (MS). We investigated the risk factors for cryptogenic HCC in patients with a low body mass index (BMI) or without MS.

Methods: Thirty-six patients were diagnosed with cryptogenic HCC over a 10-year period at a tertiary research hospital. Data including BMI score and risk factors for MS were analyzed retrospectively. Patients with fewer than two risk factors for MS (n = 16) were compared with those with two or more risk factors (n = 20). Patients with high BMI (≥ 23 kg/m(2), n = 20) were also compared with those with lower BMI (n = 16).

Results: Patients with fewer than two risk factors for MS were significantly more likely to smoke and be hepatitis B surface antibodies (anti-HBs)-positive vs. patients with two or more risk factors. However, only smoking was statistically significant on multivariate analysis. Peaks of BMI were observed in two regions. Lower BMI was significantly associated with the presence of anti-HBs compared with high BMI, although this association was not statistically significant on multivariate analysis.

Conclusions: Smoking is a potential risk factor for cryptogenic HCC in patients without MS. Remote hepatitis B virus infection may be a risk factor for cryptogenic HCC in patients without MS or with a low BMI.

Keywords: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Hepatitis B antibodies; Metabolic syndrome; Smoking.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The distribution of body mass index in cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Peak body mass index incidence was observed in two regions (18.5-22.9 kg/m2 and 25-29.9 kg/m2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Oh KC, Park SH, Park JC, et al. Is the prevalence of cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma increasing in Korea? Korean J Gastroenterol. 2005;45:45–51. - PubMed
    1. Nam SW, Jung JJ, Bae SH, et al. Clinical outcomes of delayed clearance of serum HBsAG in patients with chronic HBV infection. Korean J Intern Med. 2007;22:73–76. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bugianesi E, Leone N, Vanni E, et al. Expanding the natural history of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: from cryptogenic cirrhosis to hepatocellular carcinoma. Gastroenterology. 2002;123:134–140. - PubMed
    1. Marrero JA, Fontana RJ, Su GL, Conjeevaram HS, Emick DM, Lok AS. NAFLD may be a common underlying liver disease in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States. Hepatology. 2002;36:1349–1354. - PubMed
    1. Starley BQ, Calcagno CJ, Harrison SA. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma: a weighty connection. Hepatology. 2010;51:1820–1832. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances