Liver (Hepatocellular) Cancer Screening (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

Changes to This Summary (12/06/2018)

The PDQ cancer information summaries are reviewed regularly and updated as new information becomes available. This section describes the latest changes made to this summary as of the date above.

Evidence of Benefit

Added text about a case-control study, conducted within the U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, that assessed whether screening with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and/or ultrasound reduced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) mortality; given the paucity of randomized controlled trials and their lack of strength, this case-control study comprised perhaps the strongest evidence about the efficacy of AFP or ultrasound screening, however, it showed no benefit in HCC mortality (cited Moon et al. as reference 13).

Added text to state that a case-control study conducted in the VA population assessed whether screening with AFP and/or ultrasound reduced HCC mortality.

This summary is written and maintained by the PDQ Screening and Prevention Editorial Board, which is editorially independent of NCI. The summary reflects an independent review of the literature and does not represent a policy statement of NCI or NIH. More information about summary policies and the role of the PDQ Editorial Boards in maintaining the PDQ summaries can be found on the About This PDQ Summary and PDQ® - NCI's Comprehensive Cancer Database pages.

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