Hepatitis C and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Latin America: Elimination as a Path to Cancer Prevention
It is clear that the arrival of direct-acting antivirals for the treatment of HCV has established an important landmark in the trajectory of liver disease with a unique opportunity to cure one of the most lethal chronic viral infections known to men. However, this arrival has impacted Latin America differently, as challenges to broadly implement treatment as a mean of eradication and cancer prevention remain. Advances have been made, but there is an urgent need for public health policies strategically tailored to Latin America and with the potential to be shared across countries in the region to treat as many individuals as possible for HCV so to dramatically decrease cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma-related mortality.