Disparities in liver cancer occurrence in the United States by race/ethnicity and state

Liver cancer is highly fatal, and death rates in the United States are increasing faster than for any other cancer, having doubled since the mid‐1980s. In 2017, it is estimated that the disease will account for about 41,000 new cancer cases and 29,000 cancer deaths in the United States. In this article, data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the National Center for Health Statistics are used to provide an overview of liver cancer incidence, mortality, and survival rates and trends, including data by race/ethnicity and state. The prevalence of major risk factors for liver cancer is also reported based on national survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the improvement in liver cancer survival in recent decades, only 1 in 5 patients survives 5 years after diagnosis. There is substantial disparity in liver cancer death rates by race/ethnicity (from 5.5 per 100,000 in non‐Hispanic whites to 11.9 per 100,000 in American Indians/Alaska Natives) and state (from 3.8 per 100,000 in North Dakota to 9.6 per 100,000 in the District of Columbia) and by race/ethnicity within states. Differences in risk factor prevalence account for much of the observed variation in liver cancer rates. Thus, in contrast to the growing burden, a substantial proportion of liver cancer deaths could be averted, and existing disparities could be dramatically reduced, through the targeted application of existing knowledge in prevention, early detection, and treatment, including improvements in vaccination against hepatitis B virus, screening and treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus infections, maintaining a healthy body weight, access to high‐quality diabetes care, preventing excessive alcohol drinking, and tobacco control, at both the state and national levels. CA Cancer J Clin 2017;67:273–289. © 2017 American Cancer Society.