The Effects of No Treatment

Without medical intervention or treatment, individuals with chronic infection of hepatitis B who were infected from birth can have up to a 25% lifetime risk of developing liver cancer.

  • This risk is even higher for those with conditions such as cirrhosis, or a family history of liver cancer.
  • The annual risk of developing liver cancer among people with hepatitis B is less than 1% in people without cirrhosis, but 2-4% in people with cirrhosis.

 

Younger woman

Get regular screening

  • Careful and early management of a chronic hepatitis B infection can avoid the progression of liver disease to cirrhosis, where there is the greatest risk for liver cancer.
  • Liver cancer surveillance – which is regular screening for liver cancer – can detect cancers early when they may be curative.

 

Smiling older man

Ask your doctor about liver cancer surveillance

  • Due to the lack of prominent symptoms with hepatitis B, it’s important to note that feeling healthy does not necessarily mean there is no infection.
  • An individual could be suffering from a chronic variation of the virus and its consequent serious effects on the liver all without knowing.
  • Ask your doctor to test you for hepatitis B, and if you’re living with hepatitis B, ask your doctor about liver cancer surveillance.

 

Join our community

Sign up with us for current information about living with Hepatitis B. Get our latest news in your inbox by subscribing here.