Development of hepatocellular carcinoma in a patient with chronic hepatitis C after 6 years of a sustained and complete response to IFN-alpha

The authors report a rare case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that devel oped 6 years after a sustained and complete response to interferon (IFN) th erapy for chronic hepatitis C. A 61-year-old Japanese man presented with a mass in the liver that was diagnosed as HCC. Six years earlier he was treat ed with IFN-alpha and responded successfully to therapy, with sustained nor malization of serum aminotransferases and eradication of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV)-ribonucleic acid (RNA). HCV-RNA was also not detected in the re sected tumorous and nontumorous liver tissues. The findings suggest that al l patients with chronic HCV infection should be followed closely for as lon g as possible for the potential development of HCC even after a complete an d sustained response to IFN treatment.