Gold standard monitoring of HCC in patients with cirrhosis is cost-effective

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of death in patients with cirrhosis. A new analysis indicates that following screening guidelines for HCC in cirrhotic patients is lifesaving and cost-effective compared with 'real life' monitoring.

Compared with 'real life' monitoring, following the guidelines for screening—which recommends biannual ultrasound—increased life expectancy by an average of 5 months and was cost-effective at $1754 per additional life year gained with French costs and at $32,415 per additional life year gained with US costs.

"The large difference between French and US costs was explained by the 4- to 10-fold difference in unit costs for surveillance—clinic visits, tests—and for first-line curative treatments," said Dr. Isabelle Durand-Zaleski, co-author of the Hepatology study.