AHCC Introduction
Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is the 5th most common cancer in the world and afflicts almost a million people yearly. There is however great geographical variation in the distribution of HCC and 80% of this cancer found in the Asia-Pacific region. In Asia it is the 3rd most common cancer. While surgical resection (and in some cases liver transplantation) offers patients with HCC the most consistent and significant survival advantage, only less than 20 % of HCC can receive resection as a therapy at the time they are diagnosed. This is because of the advanced stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis.
About 30% of inoperable patients may benefit from existing therapies that prolong lives but the outcome and survival of the remaining inoperable patients remains grave. Even in the group of patients treated with surgical resection, long term survival has remained unsatisfactory because of recurrent carcinoma and progressive liver disease. Chemoprevention in patients at high risk for HCC has also not been clearly established. There is thus an urgent need for more clinical trials in HCC (palliative, adjuvant and chemoprevention) to develop new and efficacious therapies, especially in parts of the world where the disease burden is highest. Clinical trials on cutting-edge therapies also allow patients to have access to and benefit from such therapies.
