Sustained Virologic Response for Patients With Hepatitis C–Related Cirrhosis: A Major Milestone, but Not Quite a Cure

Liver cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death worldwide, and the sixth most common in developed coun-tries [1]. Depending on the prevalence of hepatitis C in a region, it can account for 13%–66 % of cases of hepatocellular car-cinoma (HCC) [2]. HCC occurs almost exclusively in patients with cirrhosis [3]; however, other factors such as the etiolo-gy of cirrhosis also play a role. For in-stance, the risk of HCC in patients with cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis B is 3%– 8 % per year, but in autoimmune hepatitis the risk is only 1.1 % per year or lower [3, 4]. Thus, one would expect that curing hepa