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
Review
. 2020 Jan 27;7(3):308-319.
doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2020.01.014. eCollection 2020 Sep.

Advances in the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Weiyi Wang  1 , Chao Wei  1
Affiliations
Review

Advances in the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Weiyi Wang et al. Genes Dis. .

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers globally. In contrast to the declining death rates observed for all other common cancers such as breast, lung, and prostate cancers, the death rates for HCC continue to increase by ~2-3% per year because HCC is frequently diagnosed late and there is no curative therapy for an advanced HCC. The early diagnosis of HCC is truly a big challenge. Over the past years, the early diagnosis of HCC has relied on surveillance with ultrasonography (US) and serological assessments of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). However, the specificity and sensitivity of US/AFP is not satisfactory enough to detect early onset HCC. Recent technological advancements offer hope for early HCC diagnosis. Herein, we review the progress made in HCC diagnostics, with a focus on emerging imaging techniques and biomarkers for early disease diagnosis.

Keywords: Biomarker; Early diagnosis; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Imaging; Liquid biopsy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

References

    1. Tsuchiya N., Sawada Y., Endo I., Saito K., Uemura Y., Nakatsura T. Biomarkers for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol. 2015;21(37):10573–10583. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Masuzaki R., Karp S.J., Omata M. New serum markers of hepatocellular carcinoma. Semin Oncol. 2012;39(4):434–439. - PubMed
    1. Omata M., Cheng A.L., Kokudo N. Asia-Pacific clinical practice guidelines on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: a 2017 update. Hepatol Int. 2017;11(4):317–370. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kudo M., Matsui O., Izumi N. JSH consensus-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: 2014 update by the liver cancer study group of Japan. Liver Cancer. 2014;3(3–4):458–468. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bruix J., Sherman M., American Association for the Study of Liver D. Management of hepatocellular carcinoma: an update. Hepatology. 2011;53(3):1020–1022. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources