Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 14, 2016; 22(34): 7806-7812
Published online Sep 14, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i34.7806
Hepatocellular carcinoma screening and surveillance in 2293 chronic hepatitis B patients in an endemic area
Teerapat Ungtrakul, Chulabhorn Mahidol, Pattra Chun-on, Charlie Laohapand, Surachate Siripongsakun, Akeanong Worakitsitisatorn, Sirachat Vidhayakorn, Wariya Boonchuay, Jiraporn Dechma, Gaidganok Sornsamdang, Kamonwan Soonklang, Tassanee Sriprayoon, Tawesak Tanwandee, Chirayu U Auewarakul
Teerapat Ungtrakul, Chulabhorn Mahidol, Pattra Chun-on, Charlie Laohapand, Surachate Siripongsakun, Akeanong Worakitsitisatorn, Sirachat Vidhayakorn, Wariya Boonchuay, Jiraporn Dechma, Gaidganok Sornsamdang, Kamonwan Soonklang, Chirayu U Auewarakul, Chulabhorn Hospital, Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Chulabhorn Mahidol, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
Chulabhorn Mahidol, Tassanee Sriprayoon, Tawesak Tanwandee, Chirayu U Auewarakul, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkoknoi, Bangkok 10700, Thailand
Author contributions: Ungtrakul T carried out the literature review, study design, statistical analysis, manuscript drafting and revision; Chun-on P, Siripongsakun S, Worakitsitisatorn A and Vidhayakorn S carried out data collection and imaging analyses; Boonchuay W and Dechma J contributed to data collection and patient coordination; Sornsamdang G was responsible for the analysis of serum alpha-fetoprotein and liver function tests; Soonklang K carried out the statistical analysis; Laohapand C and Sriprayoon T contributed to the literature review and study design; Mahidol C, Tanwandee T and Auewarakul CU contributed to proposal development, data analysis and monitoring, and manuscript revision; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Chulabhorn Hospital.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the ethical committee of human research of Chulabhorn Research Institute (Certificate no. 18/2553).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided written consent prior to the study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this manuscript declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: We do not wish to share the data at this stage because the study involving this cohort is still ongoing. Data should be available by July 2023.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Teerapat Ungtrakul, MD, MSc, Chulabhorn Hospital, 54 Kamphaeng Phet 6, Laksi, Bangkok 10210, Thailand. ungteerapat@yahoo.com
Telephone: +662-5766791 Fax: +662-5766791
Received: April 20, 2016
Peer-review started: April 21, 2016
First decision: May 27, 2016
Revised: June 27, 2016
Accepted: August 1, 2016
Article in press: August 1, 2016
Published online: September 14, 2016
Processing time: 140 Days and 17.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: This large cohort study of 2293 patients revealed a high prevalence rate (305 per 100000 persons) and a high incidence rate (143 per 100000 persons per year) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in treatment-naïve Thai chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients through a screening and surveillance semi-annual ultrasonography program. Most patients were at an early stage (Stage 0, A or B) and were successfully treated, with a high 3-year survival rate of 90%. A national screening policy should thus be implemented in CHB patients residing in a developing country with a high incidence rate of HCC such as Thailand, to prevent late-stage HCC development.