Relative Importance of Hepatitis B and C Viruses in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in EMRO Countries and the Middle East: A Systematic Review.

CONTEXT: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cancer-related death worldwide. Although many factors including dietary aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases can lead to HCC, globally most HCC cases are due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Considering the importance of these viral factors in most HCC cases and relative lack of literature from eastern Mediterranean region office of world health organization (EMRO) countries and the Middle East, we decided to perform this systematic review to find distribution of viral etiology of HCC in these regions.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: In this systemic review, we included all studies from 1 January 1989 to 1 September 2015 with at least 20 samples that measured HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV). The authors searched MEDLINE, Embase, Popline, Web of Science and WHO indexed databases. We searched the following MeSH terms; hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus or hepacvirus. Only studies using second- and third-generation HCV assays were included. Only articles studying HCC patients from EMRO countries and the Middle East were analyzed. Duplicate results that reported the same cases more than once were found and omitted. Studies in English and Farsi were reviewed. If the study was eligible, we recorded the following data; the first author, publication year and journal, study population and number and percentage of patients with different serologic statuses.

RESULTS: We found 44 studies from 12 countries in EMRO and the Middle East. HCC cases from Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and Yemen were mainly due to HBV, while those of North African nations (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Somalia) in addition to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were mostly HCV related. Sudan showed a high seronegativity and HBV infection in its HCC cases. Unfortunately, some countries from EMRO and the Middle East did not have eligible studies.

CONCLUSIONS: HBV and HCV are important culprits of HCC in EMRO countries and the Middle East and different nations need different strategies to tackle them accordingly. Countries with high rates of HBV such as Turkey should continue their HBV vaccination and also increase sanitation. Nations with high HCV rates such as Egypt should maintain their blood product monitoring in addition to increased sanitation, especially regarding injection drug users (IDU).