0
Sign In  | Subscribe
18 November 2003, Vol 139, No. 10>
Summaries for Patients | 18 November 2003

Increasing Rates of Primary Liver Cancer in the United States FREE

[+] Article and Author Information

The summary below is from the full report titled “The Continuing Increase in the Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the United States: An Update.” It is in the 18 November 2003 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (volume 139, pages 817-823). The authors are H.B. El-Serag, J.A. Davila, N.J. Petersen, and K.A. McGlynn.


Ann Intern Med. 2003;139(10):I-28. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-139-10-200311180-00004
Text Size: A A A

What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Primary liver cancer is a cancer that starts in the liver rather than a cancer that starts elsewhere and spreads to the liver. Most types of primary liver cancer arise from abnormal cells in the liver (hepatocellular carcinoma). The exact cause of the abnormal cells is unclear, but most people with primary liver cancer also have liver scarring (cirrhosis) and some have had chronic viral infections of the liver (hepatitis B or C) for 20 to 40 years or heavy alcohol drinking for several years. The number of people in the United States with a diagnosis of primary liver cancer started increasing in the early 1980s. Reasons for the increase were unclear. Some researchers thought that the increase might be due to the rise in hepatitis C virus infections that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. These infections were spread by needle sharing among intravenous drug users, transfusion of unscreened blood products, and unsafe sexual practices. If these infections were related to liver cancer, cancer rates might continue to increase for many years, particularly in groups that were exposed to hepatitis C virus in the 1960s and 1970s.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

To see whether rates of liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) have continued to increase in the United States.

Who was studied?

People who received a diagnosis of liver cancer between 1975 and 1998.

How was the study done?

The researchers used a national database that covers 9 geographic regions in the United States. The database has information about patients who received a cancer diagnosis and their outcomes. The information is obtained from routine review of medical records. The researchers looked at whether numbers of new cases of liver cancer increased from the 1970s to the 1990s and whether rates of any increases were leveling off.

What did the researchers find?

Incidence rates of liver cancer doubled from 1975 to 1998. Increasing rates were seen in all ethnic groups and in most age groups after 40 years of age. Black people and older people had the highest incidence rates, but the largest recent increases in rates (from 1995 to 1998) were in white men 45 to 54 years of age.

What were the limitations of the study?

Because the geographic regions covered by the database are mostly urban, data may not apply to people who live in rural areas. Patients were classified as white, black, or other. This limited the ability to look at rates of cancer in groups such as Hispanic persons and Asian persons. Because no blood tests for hepatitis C virus infections were available, no direct linkages between these infections and liver cancer could be made.

What are the implications of the study?

The number of cases of liver cancer in the United States is still increasing rapidly, especially among white men 45 to 54 years of age. The increases may be explained by hepatitis C virus infections acquired in the 1960s and 1970s.

Figures

Tables

References

Letters

NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Compression-Only CPR: Pushing the Science Forward
Cone
AAM 2010;304:1493-1495.
All you need to read in the other general jounals
BMJ 2010;341:c5893-c1494.

Comments

Submit a Comment
Submit a Comment

Summary for Patients

Clinical Slide Sets

Terms of Use

The In the Clinic® slide sets are owned and copyrighted by the American College of Physicians (ACP). All text, graphics, trademarks, and other intellectual property incorporated into the slide sets remain the sole and exclusive property of the ACP. The slide sets may be used only by the person who downloads or purchases them and only for the purpose of presenting them during not-for-profit educational activities. Users may incorporate the entire slide set or selected individual slides into their own teaching presentations but may not alter the content of the slides in any way or remove the ACP copyright notice. Users may make print copies for use as hand-outs for the audience the user is personally addressing but may not otherwise reproduce or distribute the slides by any means or media, including but not limited to sending them as e-mail attachments, posting them on Internet or Intranet sites, publishing them in meeting proceedings, or making them available for sale or distribution in any unauthorized form, without the express written permission of the ACP. Unauthorized use of the In the Clinic slide sets will constitute copyright infringement.

Toolkit

Buy This Article

to gain full access to the content and tools.

Want to Subscribe?

Learn more about subscription options

Register Now for a free account
Advertisement

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.

Topic Collections
PubMed Articles
Metachronous gastrointestinal stromal tumor and acute leukemia after liver transplantation for cholangiocellular carcinoma: is there a link?
Case reports in oncology Issue date: 2013 Jan
Malignant stromal tumor of the stomach with giant cystic liver metastases prior to treatment with imatinib mesylate.
Vojnosanitetski pregled. Military-medical and pharmaceutical review Issue date: 2013 Feb

Annals of Internal Medicine

Other Resources

Copyright © 2013 The American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.
Print ISSN: 0003-4819 | Online ISSN: 1539-3704

Buy This Article

to gain full access to the content and tools.

Want to Subscribe?

Learn more about subscription options

Register Now for a free account
Forgot your password?
Enter your username and email address. We'll send you a reminder to the email address on record.
(Required)
(Required)