NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Screening some patients who have been
cured of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is
worthwhile, new research from Korea suggests.
Doctors should consider screening cirrhotic patients and noncirrhotic
males over age 50, even after hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)
seroclearance, if they have HBV genotype C, the authors reported online
November 28 in the Journal of Hepatology.
"Though serum HBsAg loss is generally considered as a cure of HBV,
the risk of future HCC development is still high. The incidence of HCC
in cirrhotic patients is also high," wrote co-author Dr. Han Chu Lee of
the University of Ulsan in Seoul, in email to Reuters Health.
Read more....Labels: Genotype C, HCC screening, screening post (HBsAg) seroclearance