National Response Needed to Control Hepatitis

Screening patients with cirrhosis for HCC to detect cancer at an earlier stage has been shown to be efficacious in one randomized, controlled trial and in several observational cohort studies. But, even in studies of insured patients with HCC, few patients are appropriately screened.

For example, in a yet-to-be-published study of 3,903 Medicare patients with HCC, 57% had received at least one screening test for the cancer in the 3 years prior to their diagnosis. But only 7% were screened according to standard-of-care guidelines.

In the same study, physicians were nearly three times more likely to screen for HCC if they were affiliated with a medical school than if they had a solo or group practice. Gastroenterologists were three to four times more likely to screen than were primary care physicians alone, which illustrates that viral hepatitis is “becoming more and more not a primary care disease as it progresses,” he said.

The conference was endorsed by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and was cosponsored by the American Gastroenterological Association Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Kim reported serving as a consultant to Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co., Gilead Sciences Inc., and Roche Pharmaceuticals. He disclosed receiving grant and research support from Romark Laboratories LC. Dr. El-Serag had nothing to disclose.