Abstract
Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the most common blood-borne infection in the United States, with an estimated overall prevalence of 3.2 million persons (1.3%) and prevalence peaks between age 40 to 49 years (1). The worldwide prevalence of HCV infection is even higher at 2.0%, corresponding to 140 million persons (2). In terms of complications, cirrhosis due to HCV disease is the most frequent indication for liver transplantation in the United States (3), and the overall incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, a complication of HCV cirrhosis, continues to increase at alarming rates. In an evaluation of population-based registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program in the United States, the overall age-adjusted incidence rates of hepatocellular carcinoma increased from 1.4 per 100 000 in 1975 to 1977 to 3.0 per 100 000 in 1996 to 1998 (4).