Liver Cirrhosis

Since 1998, the Japanese Society of Hepatology has campaigned to fight hepatocellu­ lar carcinoma (HCC). Because the mortality rate for this disease has reached more than 30 per 100,000 population, the organizing committee chose HCC as the main topic of the 1999 Yamaguchi Symposium on Liver Diseases. Regarding hepatocar­ cinogenesis, we know that HCC often develops secondary to liver cirrhosis; thus liver cirrhosis must be recognized as a prevalent pathological condition leading to HCC. If we ca