Cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUNDWorldwide, liver cancer is a leading cause of death for both men and women. The number of Americans who are diagnosed with and die of liver cancer has been rising slowly each year. Using data from the CONCORD-2 study, this study examined population-based survival by state, race, and stage at diagnosis.METHODSData from 37 statewide registries, which covered 81% of the US population, for patients diagnosed during 2001\u20132009 were analyzed. Survival up to 5 years was adjusted for background mortality (net survival) with state- and race-specific life tables, and it was age-standardized with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights.RESULTSLiver cancer was diagnosed overall more often at the localized stage, with blacks being more often diagnosed at distant and regional stages than whites. 5-year net survival was 12.2% in 2001\u20132003 and 14.8% in 2004\u20132009. Whites had higher survival than blacks in both calendar periods (11.7% vs 9.1% and 14.3% vs 11.4%, respectively). During 2004\u20132009, 5-year survival was 25.7% for localized-stage disease, 9.5% for regional-stage disease, and 3.5% for distant-stage disease.CONCLUSIONSSome progress has occurred in survival for patients with liver cancer, but 5-year survival remains low, even for those diagnosed at the localized stage. Efforts directed at controlling well-established risk factors such as hepatitis B may have the greatest impact on reducing the burden of liver cancer in the United States.CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States2018-01-09T00:00:00Z29205306PMC5759038vault:2579