Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of death in patients with cirrhosis. A new analysis indicates that following screening guidelines for HCC in cirrhotic patients is lifesaving and cost-effective compared with 'real life' monitoring.
Compared with 'real life' monitoring, following the guidelines for screening--which recommends biannual ultrasound--increased life expectancy by an average of 5 months and was cost-effective at $1754 per additional life year gained with French costs and at $32,415 per additional life year gained with US costs. "The large difference between French and US costs was explained by the 4- to 10-fold difference in unit costs for surveillance--clinic visits, tests--and for first-line curative treatments," said Dr. Isabelle Durand-Zaleski, co-author of the Hepatology study.
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Journal
Hepatology