Hepatoma registry of the western world

While hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the world’s most common malignant neoplasms, with its highest prevalence in southeast Asia and portions of Africa, it remains a relatively rare malignancy in the western world. The incidence of concomitant cirrhosis is significantly higher in Asia, being over 70% [1–5] compared to less than 40% in western countries [6,7]. The overall 5-year survival after resection with curative intent in the West approaches 35–45% [8–10], whereas it ranges from 15% to 30% in the East [1, 2, 11, 12]. Recent implementation of mass screening programs using alphafeto protein and ultrasound in high-risk populations in Japan and China have identified increasing numbers of patients with small (