Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis and Significant Risk Factors for the Development of Alcohol-related Hepatocellular Carcinoma--Japan, 2012

Abstract

Recent epidemiological studies showed that alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC) and alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continue to increase despite a gradual decrease in alcohol intake, indicating that there are other risk factors for the development of ALC and alcohol-related HCC. A nationwide survey of liver cirrhosis (LC) was undertaken by asking major hospitals in Japan to provide information on the number of patients with LC admitted in 2012 along with information related to etiology including alcohol history and other relevant demographics. Among the 1,478 ALC patients, total alcohol intake was lower in women than in men, and mean age was also lower in women. Mean age was older in the present study in 2012 compared with the data in 2008. Compared to patients without diabetes mellitus (DM), patients with DM had lower daily alcohol intake and higher mean age. The prevalence of HCC was much higher in male elderly ALC patients and also in DM patients among the younger ALC patients (65 years). DM, female sex, and age were identified as risk factors for development of ALC, and DM, male sex, and age were identified as significant risk factors for HCC in ALC.