On April 15, the General Office of the National Health Commission issued the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Liver Cancer (2024 Edition) to further improve the standardization of diagnosis and treatment of primary liver cancer, ensure the quality and safety of medical care, and safeguard the health rights and interests of patients. The guidelines recommend that high-risk groups be screened at least once every 6 months.
According to the data released by the National Cancer Center of China, in 2022, the number of primary liver cancer cases in China was 367,700, ranking fourth in the number of new cases of various cancers (lung, colorectal, thyroid and liver), and fifth in the incidence rate (lung, female breast, thyroid, colorectal and liver), and 316,500 deaths due to primary liver cancer in 2022, ranking second in both mortality and mortality (lung and liver).
In mainland China, high-risk groups for liver cancer mainly include: people with hepatitis B virus and/or hepatitis C virus infection, excessive alcohol consumption, liver disease associated with hepatic steatosis or metabolic dysfunction, dietary exposure to aflatoxin B1, cirrhosis of the liver caused by various other causes, and people with a family history of liver cancer, especially men aged > 40 years.
The Guidelines make it clear that liver cancer screening should focus on using the liver cancer risk prediction score as an effective tool, and carry out a new model of accurate screening integrating communities and hospitals, so as to effectively improve the early diagnosis rate of liver cancer and reduce the mortality rate. High-risk groups should be screened at least every 6 months.
In terms of the standardization of pathological diagnosis of liver cancer, the Guidelines emphasize that the standardized processing and timely submission of liver cancer resection specimens are very important to maintain the integrity of tumor tissues and cells and correct pathological diagnosis. The collection of liver cancer specimens should follow the "7-point" baseline sampling specification, which is conducive to obtaining representative pathobiological characteristics of liver cancer.
The content of the pathological diagnosis report of liver cancer should be standardized and comprehensive, and special attention should be paid to describing the important factors affecting the prognosis of liver cancer, such as the histological type, degree of differentiation, invasive growth mode, pathological grade of MVI, and molecular pathological detection of targets with targeted therapy guiding significance. Focus on the pathological evaluation of liver cancer resection specimens after translational/neoadjuvant therapy.
Source: People's Daily Health Client