Risk Factors and Molecular Genomics of U.S. Patients With Chronic Liver Disease and Hepatocellular Cancer

Inclusion criteria

• For both experimental subjects and controls:

• Patients between older than 18 years of age of all ethnic backgrounds and genders.
• Patients with chronic liver disease
• For Experimental Subjects Only:

• Patients with HCC with a hepatic mass larger or equal to 5cm
• Patients with HCC with a hepatic mass lesion confirmed by fine needle aspirate (FNA) or by pathology in the cases of surgical resection
• Patients with HCC with a hepatic mass lesion with characteristic CT or MRI or angiographic appearance.
• For Controls Only:

Patients with chronic liver disease without evidence of HCC confirmed by either :

• A normal AFP level

• a negative imaging study (ultrasound, CT, or MR imaging).

• Negative liver cancer on explants.

*Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who declined to participate in the study
• Patients with a history of HIV infection
• Patients with concurrent advanced malignancy of non-hepatic origin.
• Patients with significant use of androgenic steroid.
• Patients with exposure to vinyl chloride.