Clinical Characteristics of Non-B and Non-C Biopsy-Proven Primary Liver Cancers in an HBV- Endemic Area: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective

To explore the distribution of probable causes and clinical characteristics of non-B and non-C (NBNC) primary liver cancer (PLC) patients in the HBV-endemic region.

Methods

A total of 86 individuals with biopsy-proven NBNC-PLC were enrolled. NBNC-PLC patients were defined as negative for both anti-HCV antibodies and five serum hepatitis B markers. Patients’ characteristics were collected from medical records.

Results

Among them, most of the NBNC-PLC patients had intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) (81.4%), and 12.8% had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The NBNC ICC group had more platelet count, GGT, and CA199 levels; approximately two-thirds were female, and it was more often present in patients with biliary inflammatory diseases, especially intrahepatic biliary lithiasis. The NBNC HCC group was older and had a higher proportion of dyslipidemia, obesity, cirrhosis, and AFP levels.

Conclusion

Our data revealed that most of the NBNC PLC patients were ICC. Female patients with biliary inflammatory diseases and higher CA199 levels had an increased risk of ICC, and patients with metabolic risk factors and elevated AFP levels were more likely to develop HCC. Additional research should be performed to verify this finding.

Keywords:

• non-B
• non-C
• primary liver cancers
• hepatocellular carcinoma
• intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
• retrospective study

Institutional Review Board Statement

The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University Ethics Committee (LYF20240137) had approved this study. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

Data Sharing Statement

The authors can certify that all relevant data is included in the article and make materials available upon request from the corresponding author.

Informed Consent Statement

The requirement of informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study, the data was anonymized, and the absence of any risk.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no financial or non-financial interests with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence this work.

Additional information

Funding

There is no funding to report.