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. 2024 Mar;22(3):562-571.e8.
doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2023.08.016. Epub 2023 Sep 6.

Incidence of Etiology-specific Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Diverging Trends and Significant Heterogeneity by Race and Ethnicity

Paulo S Pinheiro  1 , Patricia D Jones  2 , Heidy Medina  3 , Hannah M Cranford  3 , Tulay Koru-Sengul  4 , Tim Bungum  5 , Robert Wong  6 , Erin N Kobetz  7 , Katherine A McGlynn  8
Affiliations

Incidence of Etiology-specific Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Diverging Trends and Significant Heterogeneity by Race and Ethnicity

Paulo S Pinheiro et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024 Mar.

Abstract

Background & aims: The main causes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include chronic hepatitis C and B viral infections (HCV, HBV), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and alcohol-related disease (ALD). Etiology-specific HCC incidence rates and temporal trends on a population-basis are needed to improve HCC control and prevention.

Methods: All 14,420 HCC cases from the Florida statewide cancer registry were individually linked to data from the hospital discharge agency and the viral hepatitis department to determine the predominant etiology of each case diagnosed during 2010 to 2018. Age-adjusted incidence rates (AAIRs) were used to assess the intersection between etiology and detailed race-ethnicity. Etiology-specific temporal trends based on diagnosis year were assessed using Joinpoint regression.

Results: HCV remains the leading cause of HCC among men, but since 2017 NAFLD-HCC is the leading cause among women. HCV-HCC AAIRs are particularly high among U.S.-born minority men, including Puerto Rican (10.9 per 100,000), African American (8.0 per 100,000), and U.S.-born Mexican American men (7.6 per 100,000). NAFLD is more common among all Hispanics and Filipinos and HBV-HCC among Asian and Haitian black men. HCV-HCC surpasses HBV-HCC in Asian women. ALD-HCC is high among specific Hispanic male groups. Population-based HCV-HCC rates experienced a rapid decline since 2015 (-9.6% annually), whereas ALD-HCC (+6.0%) and NAFLD-HCC (+4.3%) are rising (P < .05).

Conclusions: New direct acting anti-viral drugs have impacted rates of HCV-HCC, offsetting important increases in both ALD- and NAFLD-HCC. Hispanics may be a group of concern because of higher rates for ALD- and NAFLD-HCC. HCC etiology varies remarkably and may warrant specific interventions by detailed race-ethnicity.

Keywords: Ethnicity; Etiology; Liver Cancer; Race; Trends.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1 (Males) and Figure 2 (Females).
Figure 1 (Males) and Figure 2 (Females).
Trends in HCC age-adjusted incidence rates for all race/ethnicities combined. Florida 2010–2018. Rates are shown by select HCC etiologies: Total, HCV, NAFLD, ALD, HBV. Annual percentage change (AAPC) estimates shown next to each respective curve. *Trend significantly different than zero at P < .05.
Figure 1 (Males) and Figure 2 (Females).
Figure 1 (Males) and Figure 2 (Females).
Trends in HCC age-adjusted incidence rates for all race/ethnicities combined. Florida 2010–2018. Rates are shown by select HCC etiologies: Total, HCV, NAFLD, ALD, HBV. Annual percentage change (AAPC) estimates shown next to each respective curve. *Trend significantly different than zero at P < .05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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