About the Special Issue

Primary liver cancer (PLC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death globally, with nearly 1 million new cases and 0.8 million deaths each year worldwide. In most countries, the 5-year survival for PLC is less than 20%. The global burden of PLC is attributed to various etiological factors, including but not limited to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, aflatoxin (AF) exposure, smoking, alcohol consumption, and liver disease-associated metabolic disorders. Many of these risk factors may have synergistic effects. Therefore, it is particularly important to implement liver cancer prevention and control strategies targeting the primary risk factors specific to different regions.

Due to the lack of typical symptoms and signs in the early stages of PLC, most clinical cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, leading to suboptimal clinical treatment outcomes. Early diagnosis is crucial for improving treatment efficacy in PLC cases. In terms of clinical case identification, this primarily depends on improvements in diagnostic techniques. However, for detecting cases in the general population, conducting screening using sensitive and specific diagnostic methods may be a promising approach, although there is still limited evidence from evidence-based medicine regarding PLC screening. As a result, global efforts to explore sensitive and specific methods for clinical diagnosis or screening in high-risk populations have never ceased.

This special issue aims to exchange and discuss the latest research on the epidemiology, risk factors, etiology, diagnostic biomarkers or techniques for liver cancer, as well as post-intervention findings or experiences in blocking, removing, and preventing liver cancer risk factors. By compiling cutting-edge research and expert reviews, we seek to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest knowledge and advancements in this field, highlighting research and future directions in liver cancer prevention, screening, and diagnosis. Topics explored in this issue include: trends in liver cancer epidemiology, risk factors and etiology, new diagnostic biomarkers for liver cancer, and the effectiveness of population-based liver cancer prevention strategies.

Keywords: Primary liver cancer, epidemiology, etiology, prevention, diagnosis, biomarkers, screening

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