U.S. Liver-Cancer Death Rate Has Surged 43% in 16 Years

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The death rate from liver cancer in the U.S. skyrocketed for American adults between 2000 and 2016, according to a new report, because more people are developing the deadly disease than at any time on record. The figures, which come from a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, are at odds with a decrease in mortality for all cancers combined. Liver-cancer death rates increased for both men and women 25 and older, as well as white, black, and Hispanic people—only Asians and Pacific Islanders saw a decrease in mortality from the disease. “I think the main reason for the increase in liver cancer incidence and death rate in the U.S. is the increase in the prevalence of excess body weight and hepatitis C virus infection in baby boomers,” said Farhad Islami, scientific director of cancer-surveillance research at the American Cancer Society. Throughout the 16 years analyzed, the death rate of liver among men was two to 2.5 times higher than it was for women, according to the report.

The rise in mortality doesn't mean that liver cancer is deadlier than before, according to Dr. Jiaquan Xu, the author of the report; the 10-year survival rate for liver cancer didn't change much. Rather, the increase in mortality means more people are developing liver cancer.
    More than 70% of liver cancers are caused by underlying liver disease, which has risk factors such as obesity, smoking, excess alcohol consumption, and hepatitis B and C infection, said Dr. Farhad Islami, the scientific director of cancer surveillance research at the American Cancer Society.

    "I think the main reason for the increase in liver cancer incidence and death rate in the US is the increase in the prevalence of excess body weight and hepatitis C virus infection in baby boomers," said Islami, who authored a study on liver cancer occurrence between 1990 and 2014.

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