الفهرس 
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Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as the fourth most common cancer in the world, causes substantial morbidity and mortality. Survival periods for patients with symptomatic disease are dismally short. Unfortunately, survival rates even for asymptomatic disease identified by screening or surveillance protocols are also poor (Feng, et al., 2000).
HCC can be considered as a common complication of chronic liver diseases. The age-adjusted worldwide annual incidence is between 5.5 and 14.9 people per 100,000 population, resulting in approximately 600,000 to 1,000,000 deaths annually (Parkin, et al., 2001; Llovet, et al., 2003 and Bosch, et al., 2005). However, the incidence of HCC is increasing in Europe and in the United States (El-Serag and Mason, 1999).
Epidemiologic studies have identified several risk factors for HCC and it is well known that its development is strongly dependent on the presence of liver cirrhosis; more than 90% of HCC in the Western World develop in patients with liver cirrhosis (Müller, 2006). Major risk factors include chronic hepatitis viral infections (HBV and HCV), alcohol abuse, AFB1 intoxication, and genetic diseases such as hemochromatosis and diabetes mellitus. Though there are solid cancers that are more common, HCC is at this moment the third or fourth cause of death for cancer worldwide.