Hepatocellular carcinoma in South African Indians resident in Natal

Hepatoma is a rare disease in Natal Indians. It occurs in male patients in the fifth decade. They have no history of alcohol intake. The main presenting feature is abdominal pain, weight loss and hepatomegaly. Blood tests reveal a raised alkaline phosphatase, hypoalbuminaemia, hypergammaglobulinaemi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTropical and geographical medicine Vol. 42; no. 3; p. 265
Main Authors Akoojee, S S, Seebaran, A R, Akerman, B S, Rajput, M C, Kamdar, M C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands 01.07.1990
Subjects
Alkaline Phosphatase - blood
Carcinoma - epidemiology
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - epidemiology
gamma-Glutamyltransferase - blood
Humans
India - ethnology
Liver Neoplasms - epidemiology
Male
South Africa - epidemiology
South Africa
India
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Summary:Hepatoma is a rare disease in Natal Indians. It occurs in male patients in the fifth decade. They have no history of alcohol intake. The main presenting feature is abdominal pain, weight loss and hepatomegaly. Blood tests reveal a raised alkaline phosphatase, hypoalbuminaemia, hypergammaglobulinaemia and markedly raised gamma glutamyl transferase. The tumour is a single large expanding mass in the right lobe. The patient usually presents in a late stage of the illness and shows a progressive downhill course. Hepatitis B virus infection is emerging as the likeliest carcinogen.
ISSN:0041-3232