Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Korea: an Analysis of the 2016-2018 Korean Nationwide Cancer Registry

초록

Backgrounds/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer-relateddeaths in South Korea. This study evaluated the characteristics of Korean patients newly diagnosed with HCC in 2016-2018. Methods: Data from the Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry (KPLCR), a representative database of patients newly diagnosed withHCC in South Korea, were analyzed. This study investigated 4,462 patients with HCC registered in the KPLCR in 2016-2018. Results: The median patient age was 63 years (interquartile range, 55-72). 79.7% of patients were male. Hepatitis B infection wasthe most common underlying liver disease (54.5%). The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system classified patients asfollows: stage 0 (14.9%), A (28.8%), B (7.5%), C (39.0%), and D (9.8%). The median overall survival was 3.72 years (95% confidenceinterval, 3.47-4.14), with 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of 71.3%, 54.1%, and 44.3%, respectively. In 2016-2018, there was asignificant shift toward BCLC stage 0-A and Child-Turcotte-Pugh liver function class A (P<0.05), although survival rates did not differby diagnosis year. In the treatment group (n=4,389), the most common initial treatments were transarterial therapy (31.7%), surgicalresection (24.9%), best supportive care (18.9%), and local ablation therapy (10.5%). Conclusions: Between 2016 and 2018, HCC tended to be diagnosed at earlier stages, with better liver function in later years. However, since approximately half of the patients remained diagnosed at an advanced stage, more rigorous and optimized HCCscreening strategies should be implemented.

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