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Moriguchi et al. Hepatoma Res 2019;5:43 Hepatoma Research
DOI: 10.20517/2394-5079.2019.20

Review Open Access

Epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma in
nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Michihisa Moriguchi, Yuya Seko, Aya Takahashi, Yoshito Itoh

Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Graduate School of
Medical Science, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan.
Correspondence to: Dr. Michihisa Moriguchi, Department of Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural
University of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Science, 465 Kajii-cho, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-
8566, Japan. E-mail: mmori@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp
How to cite this article: Moriguchi M, Seko Y, Takahashi A, Itoh Y. Epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma in nonalcoholic fatty
liver disease. Hepatoma Res 2019;5:43. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-5079.2019.20
Received: 15 Oct 2019 First Decision: 18 Nov 2019 Revised: 4 Dec 2019 Accepted: 17 Dec 2019 Published: 26 Dec 2019

Science Editor: Darrell Crawford Copy Editor: Jing-Wen Zhang Production Editor: Jing Yu

Abstract
Received: First Decision: Revised: Accepted: Published:
Along with the changes in our food culture and lifestyle, conditions such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic
Science Editor: Copy Editor: Production Editor: Jing Yu syndrome have been on the rise, and the incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely
related to these diseases, has also increased rapidly. Despite being a risk factor for the development of hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC), NAFLD has no established screening method, and HCC originating from NAFLD often tends to be
discovered in its advanced and symptomatic stages, which has become an important clinical problem. Even though
the carcinogenicity rate among the entire population of NAFLD patients is not high compared to that of patients
with viral hepatitis, since HCC also often develops from non-cirrhotic livers, it is difficult to narrow down the cases
that need to be under surveillance. Going forward, it will be important to clarify the clinical characteristics and
genetic background of NAFLD-related HCC and establish not only a useful surveillance method but also preventive
methods.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, epidemiology

INTRODUCTION
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the seventh most common type of cancer worldwide and the second
[1]
most common cause of cancer-related death . Although the majority of cases are caused by viruses such as

© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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