J Liver Cancer.  2025 Mar;25(1):109-122. 10.17998/jlc.2025.02.20.

Hepatocellular carcinoma in Korea: an analysis of the 2016-2018 Korean Nationwide Cancer Registry

• An J
• Chang Y
• Choi GH
• Sohn W
• Song JE
• Shin H
• Yoon JH
• Yoon JS
• Jang HY
• Cho EJ
• Han JW
• Hong SK
• Cho JY
• Jung KW
• Park EH
• Kim E
• Kim BH

• KMID: 2567069
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17998/jlc.2025.02.20

Abstract

Backgrounds/Aims
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in South Korea. This study evaluated the characteristics of Korean patients newly diagnosed with HCC in 2016-2018.
Methods
Data from the Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry (KPLCR), a representative database of patients newly diagnosed with HCC in South Korea, were analyzed. This study investigated 4,462 patients with HCC registered in the KPLCR in 2016-2018.
Results
The median patient age was 63 years (interquartile range, 55-72). 79.7% of patients were male. Hepatitis B infection was the most common underlying liver disease (54.5%). The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system classified patients as follows: stage 0 (14.9%), A (28.8%), B (7.5%), C (39.0%), and D (9.8%). The median overall survival was 3.72 years (95% confidence interval, 3.47-4.14), with 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of 71.3%, 54.1%, and 44.3%, respectively. In 2016-2018, there was a significant shift toward BCLC stage 0-A and Child-Turcotte-Pugh liver function class A (P<0.05), although survival rates did not differ by diagnosis year. In the treatment group (n=4,389), the most common initial treatments were transarterial therapy (31.7%), surgical resection (24.9%), best supportive care (18.9%), and local ablation therapy (10.5%).
Conclusions
Between 2016 and 2018, HCC tended to be diagnosed at earlier stages, with better liver function in later years. However, since approximately half of the patients remained diagnosed at an advanced stage, more rigorous and optimized HCC screening strategies should be implemented.

Keyword

Epidemiology; Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Hepatitis B; Korea; Survival

Figure

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  Figure 1. Distribution of BCLC stage according to age (A), etiology (B), and year of diagnosis (C) in the KPLCR cohort in 2016-2018 (n=4,462). BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HBV, hepatitis B virus; KPLCR, Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry.

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  Figure 2. Initial treatment modalities according to BCLC stage in the treatment group of the KPLCR cohort in 2016-2018 (n=3,174). BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; LT, liver transplantation; Tx, treatment; RT, radiation therapy; BSC, best supportive care; KPLCR, Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry.

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  Figure 3. Kaplan-Meier curves for overall survival according to (A) year of diagnosis, (B) Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) class, (C) modified Union for International Cancer Control (mUICC) stage, and (D) BCLC stage in the KPLCR cohort in 2016-2018. HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; BCLC, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer; KPLCR, Korean Primary Liver Cancer Registry.

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Reference

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