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Avatar universal

hcc at mid-30s

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and glad to find many useful discussion here.
I am in my mid-30s and recently just had a liver resection due to hcc. Good thing is it's caugh in early stage...

Brief history:
-got hepB probably at birth
-ALT elevated for a few years in my 20s (in the 50~100 range; not treated that time due to no effective drug available and want to have baby first)
-ALT got back to normal in the past few years, together with lower virus DNA (decreased from 10^7 to <2000 copy); also eAg became netagive while eAb became positive)
-normal ultrasound findings (monitor every 6 month) in the past few years

However, a few months ago, a tumor was found caugh by AFP and comfirmed by MRI. Have been on Baraclude since then (never got treated before).

My questions are:
1. why hcc was found suddently although test results seem to suggest everything was getting better in the past few years(normal ALT, low virus load, e-seroconversion) ?
2. is  Baraclude the best option for me?
3. any other things I should consider/try to prevent re-occurance?

Any comment/suggestion would be highly appreciated!
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Avatar universal
Statins May Lower Death Risk in Liver Cancer                                                                By Cole  Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage TodayPublished: January 27, 2013
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Action Points                                                

    This study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
    Statin use seemed to reduce the risk of death in patients with hepatocellular cancer.
    Point out that the positive effect of statin use on overall survival remained significant even after adjusting for age, sex, race, staging, hepatitis C and B history, liver cirrhosis, treatment, alcohol use, and diabetes.


SAN FRANCISCO  --  Statin use seemed to reduce the risk of death in patients with hepatocellular cancer, researchers reported here.
In a cohort of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), those who used statins in addition to local and systemic therapy or surgical resection had a 30% reduction in mortality versus those who did not use statins (hazard ratio 0.7, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9), according to Young Kwang Chae, MD, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues.
The positive effect on overall survival (OS) remained significant even after adjusting for age, sex, race, staging, hepatitis C and B history, liver cirrhosis, treatment, alcohol use, and diabetes (aHR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9, P=0.03), Chae said at a poster session during the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
The authors noted that "preclinical evidence supports antitumoral activity of statins," adding that several observational studies showed a protective effect of statin use with incidence of hepatocellular cancer.
"Hepatocellular cancer is a very vascular disease," Chae told MedPage Today.
The investigators followed 644 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC patients over 10 years. The sample included 68 statin users and 571 non-users who were mostly white (69.1% and 65%, respectively) and male (77.9% and 72.9% respectively). The median OS of all patients was 19.2 months, and 10.7% reported statin use.
More than half (70.7%) were diagnosed at TNM stage III and IV, while 52.6% had no evidence of hepatitis B or C virus infection. Local and systemic therapy was done in 81.7% of the patients while 18.3% underwent surgical resection.
Median OS was higher among statin users than non-users at 25.4 months versus 18.5 months (P=0.04).
Among patients without cirrhosis, statin use was associated with a 40% mortality reduction (HR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.9, P=0.04).
History of hepatitis did not affect outcomes, nor did age, sex, race, staging, treatment type, alcohol use, or diabetes status.
Chae noted that HCC patients taking statins were older (mean age 63.1) and many had diabetes (51.5%). These participants had "more cardiovascular disease and were more likely to be sick and have poor prognosis, but, in fact, they actually lived longer," Chae pointed out.
Chae said that potential areas for follow-up would be tests to determine subgroups  --  such as cirrhosis versus non-cirrhosis patients  --  where statin use is most effective. "There should be a group that statins are most effective in, and I would like to randomize them to use," he said.
The authors also noted the study could be validated with a large, prospective study.
The study was limited by retrospective data and lack of randomization among patients, although Chae noted that the latter was offset in the multivariate analysis.
The authors had no conflicts of interest.

Primary source: Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
Source reference:
Chae YK, et al "The association between statin use and hepatocellular cancer outcome" GiCS 2013; Abstract 165.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal

we talked about supplements made by fungus but i dont think they can help clear hbv, some member should try them and report results

i am about to start pegintf injections plus nuncs so maybe best not to mix too many things now

sorry i cant put on doc i am so busy it is even too much to post here, if you have time please copy to a doc file maybe easier to read

try to avoid sugars they feed tumors directly, cocao is very good for the poliphenols content but without sugars
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
interested in the details of your diet, wonder if you have put it into file.doc yet?

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_yFgxI8KNcRZWEzYTc3N2QtNWE2ZC00NGE4LThiMDgtMGQxZDNlYzU4NzE1&hl=en_US&pli=1

thanks
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
stef, thanks a lot for sharing your diet change experience.

I don't add salt or sugar when I cook for many years now, no problem with getting rid of salt, just that still like those sweet foods such as bread and chocolate (mostly dark chocolate with >50% cocoa content).

I try to eat more whole grains and beans but can't digest them efficiently (will have lots of gases each time after eating them).

I love fruits and vegi, so no problem at all of eating 5 serving daily :-)

I recently start Reishi supplement, which is said to help on enhancing your immune system.  Have you looked into it or tried it?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
it's about 1cm when discovered. size didn't change much at time of surgery (done within a month), despite afp keep increasing. Be aware that hcc could occur without elevated afp, thus it's better to combine both afp & US or MRI for monitoring.  
If you still concern, won't hurt to re-check in 3m instead of 6m. Good luck.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal

also double check ingredients of foods and drugs for aspartame or artificial sweetners.aspartame is proven to make cancer, in italy we have a lab paid by italian citizens by taxes (so you cant corrupt them) who checks toxicity and cancerogenity of all substances and aspartame was proven to promote cancer in very tiny doses
EU should have reviwed authorization in september but.....aspartame and similar are in kind of foods

by the way it was also proven to abolish 100% of the gcmaf effect on macrophages, so i probably damages imune system too
Helpful - 0
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