Affiliations: [a] Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine and Hepatitis B Foundation, Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, Doylestown, PA, USA | [b] Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA | [x] Cancer Biomarkers Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA | [y] Department of Pathology, Division of Anatomic Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Timothy M. Block, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine and Hepatitis B Foundation, Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, Doylestown, PA 18902, USA. Tel.: +1 215 489 4948; Fax: +1 215 489 4920; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: Primary cancer of the liver, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is an extremely deadly cancer, with very poor 5 year survivals, following diagnosis. The poor outcomes are believed to be due, in part, to the late times in which the cancers are usually first detected. Improved methods for early detection have thus become a top priority in the management of liver cancer. This Chapter reviews current methods of detection as well as leading new methods. Possible explanations as to why there are so many markers that are being discovered, but so few that make it to validation are discussed.
Keywords: Liver Cancer, Hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, early detection, early diagnosis, biomarkers
