How does hepatitis c lead to liver cancer?

Cirrhosis: Chronic inflammation can lead to cancer. In the case of hepatitis c, patients first develop cirrhosis which is scarring of the liver from chronic inflammation prior to liver cancer. This chronic scarring combined with chronic inflammation can lead to liver cancer up to 25 percent of the time.

HCC Risk with HCV: Hepatitis c (hcv) infection leads to liver inflammation and liver scarring. Advanced liver scarring is also called cirrhosis. Patients with HCV and cirrhosis are at a higher risk for liver cancer and should be screened by their physicians for liver cancer. Patients with successful eradication of their HCV and cirrhosis will need to continue liver cancer screening.

Yes, it can.: Any type of long-standing irritation to the liver can cause cancer. These types of irritation include iron overload, alcohol overuse, and yes, hepatitis exposure. Basically, the body attacks cells with the hepatitis C virus inside. The body heals, and when this happens many times over the years, the new liver cells are disorganized in how they grow, to the point that they form cancer.

Yes: Like any chronic condition affecting the liver, hcv leads to liver cancer over time, usually preceded by cirrhosis histologically. The average time from infection to cancer is about 20 to 30 years.