Low Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in HIV/HCV-Coinfected Patients

The disease was quite rare in a population of coinfected individuals with late-stage HIV infection, but researchers expect that the prevalence will rise.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a feared complication of long-term infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), but its frequency in the presence of HIV coinfection is still being studied. Researchers in Spain retrospectively reviewed HCC diagnoses made in more than a thousand patients with decompensated HCV-related cirrhosis between 1997 and 2002. Among 1037 patients without HIV infection, 180 had HCC at initial evaluation, and 54 developed it during follow-up (median, 13 months), for a total prevalence of 23%. Among 180 coinfected patients, only 4 had HCC at baseline, and none developed it during follow-up, for a total prevalence of 2%.

Patients without HIV infection were significantly older than coinfected patients, were less likely to have …

Reviewing Author

Abigail Zuger, MD

Low Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in HIV/HCV-Coinfected Patients

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Reviewing Author