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. 2012 Jun;203(6):726-32.
doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2011.06.055. Epub 2012 Jan 9.

Healthcare disparities in Asians and Pacific Islanders with hepatocellular cancer

Linda L Wong  1 , Brenda Hernandez, Sandi Kwee, Cheryl L Albright, Gordon Okimoto, Naoky Tsai
Affiliations

Healthcare disparities in Asians and Pacific Islanders with hepatocellular cancer

Linda L Wong et al. Am J Surg. 2012 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Hawaii has the highest incidence of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) in the United States and the largest proportion of Asians and Pacific Islanders. HCC studies generally combine these groups into 1 ethnicity, and we sought to examine differences between Asian and Pacific Islander subpopulations.

Methods: Demographic, clinical, and treatment data for 617 patients with HCC (420 Asians, 114 whites, and 83 Pacific Islanders) were reviewed. Main outcome measures included HCC screening and liver transplantation.

Results: Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups had significantly more immigrants, and age was different between groups. Compared with whites, Pacific Islanders and Filipinos had less HCC screening and liver transplantation procedures, fewer met Milan criteria, and a smaller proportion of those with Milan criteria actually underwent transplantation.

Conclusions: There were significant differences in risk factors, clinical presentation, treatment, and access to care among Asian, Pacific Islander, and white patients with HCC. Future HCC studies may benefit from differentiating subgroups within Asian and Pacific Islander populations to better focus these efforts.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Median Survival by Asian subpopulations compared to Pacific Islanders and Whites
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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