Researchers have developed a blood test that uses PCR technology to detect early stage liver cancer, possibly paving the way to increase early detection rates.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is typically associated with a poor prognosis due to advanced stage of disease at the time of diagnosis.1 While evidence suggests that early detection of HCC is linked to improved outcomes, studies consistently show suboptimal rates of HCC screening despite the guideline recommendation of biannual ultrasonography with or without serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP).
In a 2022 multicenter cohort study of 629 patients, Parikh et al found that 63.7% of patients received no screening prior to HCC diagnosis, most commonly due to lack of orders by clinicians, nonadherence by patients once screening was ordered, or failure to recognize cirrhosis prior to HCC diagnosis.2 A study published in 2021 demonstrated similar results: Only 24.7% of patients with known cirrhosis received screening at the recommended intervals, and screening underuse was attributed to lack of screening orders in nearly half of patients.3作者: StephenW 时间: 2022-10-11 19:20