Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a very rare disease among young individuals. Epidemiological, clinical, and histopathological features of this malignancy in youth have not been thoroughly studied.
Patients and methods: A review of clinical files of patients with HCC < 40 years of age treated between May 1990 and July 2002 was performed.
Results: Seventeen patients were included for analysis, nine were female and eight, male. Mean age at diagnosis was 24 years (range 12-39 years). Abdominal pain was the main symptom, followed by vomiting and nausea. Enlargement of liver was observed in 11 patients (65%). In seven patients (41%), etiologic factor was not found. Five of these cases were of fibrolamellar variant (29%). Only four patients were resected (23%) two of whom belonged to fibrolamellar type. Three patients (18%) are still alive after 64.9 months of follow-up.
Conclusion: HCC is a very uncommon disease in youth and affects similarly both genders. It is discovered at advanced stage. Hepatitis B and C are uncommon etiologic factors. Frequency of fibrolamellar carcinoma is higher in this age group. Although resection is more feasible, overall survival rates remain low.