A case-control study of risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma in Henan, China

A case-control study was carried out to investigate risk factors in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Henan, China. A total of 152 patients with HCC and 115 control patients with nonhepatic disease were included in this study. The risk factor analysis indicated that individual history of liver disease (odds ratio [OR]=11.77; 95% confidence interval [CI]=3.94-35.18), family history of liver disease (OR=11.80, 95% CI=2.75-50.61), drinking of alcohol (OR=1.06, 95% CI=1.02-1.10), corn consumption (OR=19.43, 95% CI=3.67-102.98), peanut and peanut oil consumption (OR=13.75, 95% CI=3.69-51.16), and infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) (OR=44.59, 95% CI=12.54-158.49) were significantly different between the case and control groups (P < 0.01). We also found that there was a dose-response relationship between drinking of alcohol and development of HCC, whereas heavy drinkers experienced an approximately 3-4-fold risk increase compared with nondrinkers. In further analysis, a 1:1 pair-matched case-control study was performed. One hundred thirteen of 152 HCC patients were randomly selected to be pair-matched by sex and age (+/-5 years) with the controls with nonhepatic disease. The results from the 1:1 pair-matched case-control study were consistent with the results from the group-matched case-control study. The findings of this study suggest that hepatitis virus (HBV, HCV) infection, drinking of alcohol, and dietary exposure to aflatoxin are likely etiologic agents of HCC in Henan, China.