[Study on screening for primary liver cancer in high risk population of an endemic area]

Positive HBsAg males aged 30-59 years in Qidong were considered a high risk population for primary liver cancer (PLC). A screening study was conducted among 3,958 high risk population which were assigned randomly to a screening group or to a non-screening group. 2,580 persons were screened by alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) once every six months, the incidence rate of PLC was 1,599.38 per 100,000 person-years (PYs), and that in non-screening group with 1,378 persons was 729.39 per 100,000 PYs. Screening survey was also done among 2,332 males aged 30-59 years with negative HBsAg at one-year interval, and the incidence was 128.76 per 100,000 PYs. 26 (86.67%) of 30 PLC patients found in the screening survey were stage I PLCs, but none in 11 out-patients was found in this stage. This study suggests that periodic AFP screening for high risk population is suitable for the high-incidence area, and is one of the effective ways of secondary prevention for PLC.