| [ Summary ] |
Strategies to prevent liver carcinogenesis consists of : (1) antiviral modalities such as vaccination, lamivudin, and interferon, (2) anti-inflammatory modalities, and (3) chemoprevention, using such compounds as retinoid analogs and vitamin K. Cancer chemoprevention is defined as an approach where natural or synthetic chemical compounds work to arrest or reverse premalignant cells by employing physiological pathways. As a consequence, cloning of premalignant cells is eliminated (clonal deletion) by differentiation induction or apoptosis, and thus, the processes leading to the development of clinically detectable cancer are disrupted. A particularly effective candidate for chemoprevention in liver diseases is advanced chronic hepatitis, which is thought to contain transformed hepatocyte clone (s). Primary prevention from liver cirrhosis and prevention of recurrent and second primary hepatocellular carcinoma following the treatment of the initial cancer. |