Background & Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening of patients with cirrhosis is recommended by professional societies to increase detection of early-stage tumors and survival but is underused in clinical practice. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 13,714 patients diagnosed with HCC from 2003 through 2013 included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program-Medicare database. We characterized receipt of HCC screening in the 3 years before HCC diagnosis using mutually exclusive categories (consistent vs inconsistent vs no screening) and proportion of time covered with screening. Correlates for screening receipt were assessed using a multivariable 2-part regression model. We examined the association between screening receipt and early detection of tumors using multivariable logistic regression. We evaluated associations
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) disproportionately affects racial, ethnic, and low socioeconomic status (SES) populations. However, the interaction between race, ethnicity, and neighborhood SES in HCC prognosis is not well explored. This study evaluates the interaction between race and ethnicity and neighborhood SES on curative treatment utilization and overall survival among patients with HCC in the United States. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 13,874 patients aged ≥65 years diagnosed with HCC from 2001 through 2015 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare‐linked database. We performed multivariable logistic regression to examine the association between race, ethnicity, and curative treatment receipt across SES. We also evaluated the association between curative treatment receipt and overall survival using a Cox proportional hazards model. Among 13,874 patients, only 2,617 (18.9%) patients received curative treatment. Overall, Black patients had lower odds of receiving curative treatment than White patients (odds ratio [OR], 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64‐0.91). When stratified by neighborhood SES, Black patients living in high‐poverty neighborhoods had lower odds of curative treatment receipt (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.49‐0.84) and worse survival (hazard ratio, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.02‐1.25). Conversely, Hispanic and Asian patients had similar curative treatment receipt compared to White patients across all socioeconomic levels.
Conclusion:
Disparities in curative treatment receipt and overall survival are pronounced between Black and White patients. Black–White disparities appear to be moderated by neighborhood SES and are particularly evident among those living in high‐poverty neighborhoods.
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