Liver cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in Bangladesh. It has been reported that liver cancer ranks 3rd among cancer related deaths in Bangladeshi males. The main cause of liver cancer in Bangladesh is chronic hepatitis B virus infection, which infects approximately 5% Bangladeshis and not surprisingly is responsible more than 70% cases of liver cancer in this country, followed by chronic hepatitis C virus infection and fatty liver. Unfortunately most of our liver cancer patients are between 35 to 45 years of age, which is on an average 18 years earlier than the global average age. This is only because of the fact that the best treatment option for them – ‘trans-arterial chemo-embolization’ (TACE), until recently was unavailable in Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi patients availing this treatment abroad would spend anything between half to two million taka for each session of TACE, which is far beyond the capability of most of our patients. However TACE is no more a myth for Bangladeshi liver cancer patients. The first ever TACE was performed in Bangladesh successfully in Dhaka at a private Hospital on November 27 by a team of young Bangladesh Hepatologists led by Dr. Mamun-Al-Mahtab , Associate Professor of Hepatology at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka. Other members of the team included Dr. Sheikh Mohammad Noor-E-Alam , Dr. Md. Ashraful Alam and Dr. Syed Abul Foez.
