Characteristics and etiologies of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients without cirrhosis: When East meets West

A recent study from the United States reported that nearly 12% of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) occurred in patients without cirrhosis. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was the most common liver disease in these patients. We aim to evaluate the characteristics, etiologies, and outcomes of cases of non-cirrhotic HCC in East Asia, where there is a higher prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated non-cirrhotic HCC. This retrospective study consecutively enrolled de novo HCC patients managed at our institution from 2011 to 2017. The presence of cirrhosis was assessed by histology; if histology was not available, it was assessed by image study. 2055 patients with HCC were enrolled in this study. Among them, 529 (25.7%) were non-cirrhotic. The non-cirrhotic patients were younger (60.9 vs. 62.5 years, p = 0.006), included a greater proportion of males (78.1% vs. 71.3%, p = 0.002), and had a lower body mass index (24.3 vs. 25.3 kg/m2, p