Liver Research in Thailand: turn the crisis to an opportunity.
Assoc.Prof.Tawesak Tanwandee
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University
There are many common liver diseases in Thailand, including
1. Chronic hepatitis B and C
From the data of the Department of Disease Control and the World Health Organization in 2011, Thailand has the patients with chronic hepatitis B about 3.5 million and chronic hepatitis C about 1.2 million (http://www.searo.who.int/thailand/news/worldhepatitis2013/en/index.html). Many of these patients, roughly one-third, will progress to cirrhosis and complications of cirrhosis including liver failure and primary liver cancer, which is one of the most common cancer both in male and female.
2. Chronic liver disease
Most of chronic liver disease results from hepatitis viruses. However, there are other common causes of chronic liver disease including alcohol-related, fatty liver and hepatotoxicity from drugs. Without proper management, some will progress to cirrhosis and liver carcimoma.
3. Primary liver cancer
Primary liver cancer is among the most common cancer in Thai population which can be divide into two types. Primary liver cell cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma and cancer originating from bile duct epithelium called cholangiocarcinoma. The prevalence of both cancers are roughly the same but cholangiocarcinoma is found mostly in the North and Northeast region. Primary liver cancer is among one of the most severe cancer with short survival after diagnosed.
A lot of treatment progresses have been observed recently but the result of treatment is still far from satisfactory. Moreover, new treatment is usually more expensive which cannot afford by many patients. This is a good opportunity for Thailand and pharmaceutical industry to study diagnostic test and treatment for various liver diseases. These studies will be beneficial to the patients, industry and Thailand.