ABSTRACT

Objective: To describe the epidemiological characteristics of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), to gain more knowledge about the relationship among age, dietary habits, behavioural habits, living habits and HCC, and to clarify the risk of causing HCC by alcohol consumption.

Methods: A case-control study was utilized. In the form of a questionnaire, 200 cases of patients with HCC were investigated, and their related information was stored in a computer. The patients were divided into experimental and control groups. Meanwhile, the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were estimated by using logistic multiple regression.

Results: A univariate analysis of variance was used to describe the basic characteristics of the two groups of patients. It showed that the factors closely related to the occurrence of HCC were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity, liver cirrhosis, other chronic liver diseases and schistosomiasis. However, there was no obvious correlation between alcohol consumption and HCC. In addition, further analysis showed no correlation among the number of drinking years, alcohol intake and drinking age. However, HBsAg positivity and a history of chronic liver disease were closely associated with the occurrence of HCC; the HCC incidence in HBsAgpositive patients was significantly higher. In HBsAg-negative subjects, there was no significant correlation (p > 0.05) between alcohol consumption and the incidence of HCC. In the study of patients with chronic liver disease, the risk of causing liver cancer among alcohol-drinking patients was higher than that among non-alcohol-drinking patients. The risk was higher with higher alcohol consumption.

Conclusion: Hepatitis B surface antigen positivity and chronic liver diseases were independent risk factors for HCC. Although drinking alcohol was not an independent risk factor, drinking alcohol would increase the possibility of causing HCC among patients with HBsAg positivity and a history of chronic liver disease and it would be especially noticeable with increased alcohol consumption.