Case report: Occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma 4.5 years after successful treatment with virus clearance for chronic hepatitis C

A 67-year-old man with hepatitis C virus infection and histological feature s of chronic active hepatitis was treated with human recombinant interferon alpha-2b. He responded successfully to interferon with normalization of se rum alanine aminotransferase and continuous eradication of hepatitis C viru s. However, 4.5 years after the end of interferon therapy, hepatocellular c arcinoma, 20 mm in diameter, was detected by routine ultrasonographic scree ning. The patient underwent surgical treatment for resection of the hepatoc ellular carcinoma. The non-cancerous liver tissue was histologically normal . This suggests that patients who have shown a complete response to interfe ron therapy for chronic hepatitis C should be followed up closely. (C) 1999 Blackwell Science Asia Pty Ltd.