LAUSR

BACKGROUND It is unclear whether elevated fasting serum glucose level and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are associated with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), irrespective of obesity in patients with chronic hepatitis B. PATIENTS AND METHODS Our study population comprised 214,167 Korean men with chronic hepatitis B in the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database between January 2002 and December 2006. Data on new events of HCC were obtained by records of the NHIS during the follow-up. We used Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, health status and clinical conditions to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of HCC associated with different categories of fasting serum glucose level and T2DM, using fasting serum glucose <90 mg/dL as reference. RESULTS During the 8 years of follow-up, there were 11,241 HCCs in men with chronic hepatitis B. Compared with the reference group, fasting serum glucose level of more than 140 mg/dL (HR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.36-1.57; p < 0.001) and presence of T2DM (HR = 1.23; 95% CI: 1.15-1.34; p < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of HCC after controlling for potential confounders. Significant association with fasting serum glucose and HCC was found for both non-obese (<25 kg/m2) and obese (≥25.0 kg/m2) patients (Ptrend < 0.001). CONCLUSION In this cohort of men with chronic hepatitis B infection, elevated fasting serum glucose level and T2DM were significantly associated with an increased risk of HCC, regardless of obesity. Glycaemic control in men with chronic hepatitis B patients should be considered in clinical practice to prevent HCC.