A study of mortality from hepatoma and hepatic cirrhosis was conducted in Taiwan, where their mortality rates are among the highest in the world in 1980 being 26.10 and 8.14 per 100,000 population for males and females, respectively, for hepatoma, and 33.01 and 12.90 for males and females, respectively, for cirrhosis. The secular trends of hepatoma and hepatic cirrhosis death rates have been increasing, especially in males, with consequent increase in the sex ratio. The large difference in mortality rates between males and females and the increasing trends in the sex ratio suggest that other factors besides hepatitis B virus (HBV), are involved in the aetiology of hepatoma and cirrhosis of liver.