Topic: Liver Cancer in Alcoholic and Metabolic Liver Diseases

I have witnessed several extraordinary advances in the field of Hepatology in my professional life. Understanding the natural history of chronic hepatitis B virus infection, the advent of liver transplantation, the cloning and curing of hepatitis C, discovery of haemochromatosis gene as well as the emergence of the fatty liver disease epidemic are examples of the changes our field has seen. Indeed, one remains in awe at the pace of discoveries in our field. Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of those areas where our knowledge has expanded dramatically over recent times. It is a cancer of major global significance and emerging rather dramatically as a major health issue in the West. The pathophysiological basis of liver cancer with viral liver diseases is an area of great interest that deserves the attention that has been focused upon it. However, in both the East and the West, we are likely to see more cancers develop in non-viral liver diseases into the future and our understanding of the basis of these cancers needs to be enhanced. This is the reason why we have chosen this topic as a theme for this edition of Hepatoma Research.

15 Oct 2019