Abstract A025: Trends in liver cancer mortality by sex, race, and ethnicity in California from 2000-2019
Authors: Chu Janet N. , Sangaramoorthy Meera , Mckinley Meg , Li Stephen , DeRouen Mindy C. , Guan Alice , Tana Michele M. , Somsouk Ma , Thompson Caroline A. , Ho Chanda , El-Serag Hashem B. , Cheng Iona , Gomez Scarlett L. , Shariff-Marco Salma 
Published: September 2024

Background: Liver cancer disproportionately affects foreign-born individuals and racial and ethnic minoritized groups, with higher incidence among Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Hispanic populations than non-Hispanic (NH) White populations. California has one of the highest overall mortality rates from liver cancer and a large proportion of AAPI and Hispanic residents compared to other U.S states. While prior studies have examined racial and ethnic disparities in liver cancer incidence and treatment, few studies have examined trends in liver cancer mortality in California by sex, race, and ethnicity. Methods: Adults aged 20+ years diagnosed with first primary malignant liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer from January 2000 through December 2019 were identified through the California Cancer Registry, a statewide population-based cancer registry. We used SEER*Stat software to compute age-adjusted mortality rates (per 100,000 population; standardized to the 2000 U.S. standard million population) by sex, race, and ethnicity. To analyze temporal trends of mortality rates, we calculated annual percent change (APC) using Joinpoint regression. Results: Overall, the mortality rate of liver cancer increased from 8.05 to 10.75 per 100,000 (average APC=1.53, 95% CI 1.23, 1.82) from 2000-2019. For males, rates increased from 11.39 in 2000 to 15.77 until 2013 (APC=2.53, 95% CI 2.07, 3.21), and stabilizing thereafter (APC=-0.74, 95% CI -2.37, 0.30). In contrast, for females, mortality rates increased continuously from 2000-2019 from 5.27 to 7.17 (APC=1.63, 95% CI 1.27, 2.04). Across racial and ethnic groups, the mortality rate for liver cancer was highest for the AAPI adults at 16.77 in 2000, and this decreased over time to 12.29 in 2019 (APC=-3.17, 95% CI -5.36, -2.24). Similarly, the liver cancer mortality rate among Hispanic adults increased initially and then decreased. Mortality among non-Hispanic Black adults increased from 10.98 in 2000 to 12.99 in 2019 (APC=0.89, 95% CI -0.07, 2.02), though this did not reach statistical significance. The liver cancer mortality rate was lowest among non-Hispanic White adults from 5.65 in 2000 but increased over time to 7.87 in 2019 (APC=1.76, 95% CI 1.39, 2.08), which is still the lowest compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Discussion: In contrast to studies that show a decline in liver cancer mortality in recent years, liver cancer mortality rates have continued to increase in California, particularly for females. Liver cancer mortality rates initially increased for AAPI and Hispanic populations but have started to stabilize. Next steps are to understand multilevel drivers contributing to these trends in liver cancer mortality in California, including individual sociodemographic and clinical factors, healthcare system factors, and neighborhood factors, including neighborhood socioeconomic status and ethnic enclaves.

Citation Format: Janet N. Chu, Meera Sangaramoorthy, Meg Mckinley, Stephen Li, Mindy C. DeRouen, Alice Guan, Michele M. Tana, Ma Somsouk, Caroline A. Thompson, Chanda Ho, Hashem B. El-Serag, Iona Cheng, Scarlett L. Gomez, Salma Shariff-Marco. Trends in liver cancer mortality by sex, race, and ethnicity in California from 2000-2019 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A025.