There has been concern about a rise in the incidence of deadly liver cancer for years. The National Cancer Institute writes that there were an estimated 26,190 new cases of liver cancer in 2011 with 19,590 deaths. MayoClinic has reported "Mayo Clinic Studies Identify Risk Factors in Rising Trend of Liver Cancer."
Doctors have been aware for years that the incidence of deadly liver cancer is on the rise, however what is causing that trend has remained a mystery. Two recent Mayo Clinic studies published in the January have offered a clearer picture of the rise of hepatocellar carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer, which has tripled in the U.S. in the last three decades and which has a 10 to 12 percent five-year survival rate when detected in later stages.
Dr. W. Ray Kim, a specialist in Gastroenterology and Hepatology has said "The studies illuminate the importance of identifying people with risk factors in certain populations to help catch the disease in its early, treatable stages." Dr. Kim's research group investigated several decades of records in the Rochester Epidemiology Project, which is a database that accounts for an entire county's inpatient and outpatient care.
Their study discovered the overall incidence of HCC in the population (6.9 per 100,000) is higher than has been estimated for the nation based on data from the National Cancer Institute (5.1 per 100,000). This study also found that HCC, which two decades ago tended to be caused primarily by liver-scarring diseases such as cirrhosis from alcohol consumption, is now also occurring as a consequence of hepatitis C infection.
Dr. Kim has said "The liver scarring from hepatitis C can take 20 to 30 years to develop into cancer. We're now seeing cancer patients in their 50s and 60s who contracted hepatitis C 30 years ago and didn't even know they were infected." Eleven percent of the cases in the study were linked to obesity, in particular fatty liver disease. Dr. Kim went on to say "It's a small percentage of cases overall. But with the nationwide obesity epidemic, we believe the rates of liver cancer may dramatically increase in the foreseeable future."
In another study the Somali population, which is growing in the U.S., particularly in Minnesota, where as many as 50,000 Somalis have settled in the last two decades, was studied exclusively. Somalia, which is an East African country, is known to have a high prevalence of hepatitis B, which is a risk factor for HCC.
The researchers investigating records in the Mayo Clinic Life Sciences System confirmed that hepatitis B is still a risk factor, but they also found that a significant percentage of liver cancer cases in the population are attributable to hepatitis C, which had not previously been known to be significantly prevalent. Lead author Abdirashid Shire, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic researcher, has said "The study suggests that screening for hepatitis C would be helpful for the Somali population and would enable close surveillance of liver cancer among those at risk. That would greatly improve treatment and survival of Somalis with this type of cancer."
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