Risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma by age, sex, and liver disorder status: A prospective cohort study in Korea

BACKGROUND To the authors' knowledge, relatively little is known regarding the interaction of risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with age, sex, and liver disorder status. METHODS The authors followed 504,646 Korean patients aged 40 to 80 years who underwent routine health checkups between 2002 and 2003 until 2013 via linkage to national hospital discharge records. RESULTS HCC occurred in 2744 individuals. In the sex‐adjusted and age‐adjusted analysis, cirrhosis increased the incidence of HCC by 42‐fold, followed by hepatitis B virus (21‐fold), hepatitis C virus (HCV; 19‐fold), male sex (4.3‐fold), and each 5‐year age increment (1.24‐fold). In the multivariable adjusted analysis, diabetes increased the risk of HCC by 80%, alcohol consumption ≥80 g/day increased the risk by 75%, alcohol consumption of 40 to 79 g/day increased the risk by 37%, and being a current smoker increased the risk by 25%. The multivariable adjusted hazard ratios of male sex and HCV were 6.27 and 5.72, respectively, at age