Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a well known consequence of chronic liver diseases (CLD). The aim of this study was to extract the HCC risk incidence in Kerman province, located in southern part of Iran and compare the data with other parts of the country.
Methods: All medical records regarding the HCC were collected through the hospital based and/ or outpatient services in public or private centers. The records of all oncology, radiotherapy and pathology centers in Kerman province were actively searched between 1999 and 2006. Annual incidence of HCC around the country was calculated, using the national cancer registry database provided by the Health Ministry of I.R. Iran during 2005-2006. Using the stata version 8, the crude and age-sex standardized annual incidence risks were computed.
Results: The crude annual incidence of HCC per 100,000 persons in Kerman and Iran was 0.522 (95%CI: 0.238-0.88) and 0.199 (95%CI: 0.167-0.234) respectively. The age and sex-adjusted annual incidence of HCC in Kerman and Iran were 0.7 (95%CI: 0.4-1.1) and 0.2 (95%CI: 0.2-0.3) per 100,000 persons respectively (p<0.01). The mean age of patients in Kerman was around 5.5 years less than other parts of Iran (56.17 ± 18.32 years versus 61.68 ± 14.62 years; P=0.004).
Conclusion: Generally the incidence of HCC is not so much high in Iran; however the higher incidence of HCC in Kerman and also lower age of onset mandates further research to detect its risk factors in this part of country.