Hepatocellular carcinoma in the thalassaemia syndromes

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently complicates hepatic cirrhosis secondary to viral infection or iron overload. Therefore, patients affected by thalassaemia syndromes have a theoretically high risk of developing the tumour. We collected data on patients attending Italian centres for the treatment of thalassaemia. Twenty-two cases of HCC were identified; 15 were male. At diagnosis, the mean age was 45 +/- 11 years and the mean serum ferritin was 1764 +/- 1448 mug/l. Eighty-six percent had been infected by hepatitis C virus. Nineteen of 22 cases were diagnosed after 1993, suggesting that this problem is becoming more frequent with the aging population of thalassaemia patients.