Melanoma and Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Disparities in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Survival among Californians of Asian Ancestry, 1988 to 2007

“…In conclusion, our data and analyses support the finding that not all Asian Americans are the same; disaggregating the HCC data by ethnicity has elucidated Laotian/Hmong as the ethnic group with the worst survival outcomes. However, as our data indicate, none of the Asian Americans with HCC have favorable survival outcomes, and HCC by comparison with other cancers is almost invariably fatal (19, 33, 51). Viral hepatitis especially hepatitis B among Asian Americans was likely a major contributor to the development of liver cancer in this population (19) and unless one’s hepatitis status is known, proper medical management cannot occur.…”

“…However, as our data indicate, none of the Asian Americans with HCC have favorable survival outcomes, and HCC by comparison with other cancers is almost invariably fatal (19, 33, 51). Viral hepatitis especially hepatitis B among Asian Americans was likely a major contributor to the development of liver cancer in this population (19) and unless one’s hepatitis status is known, proper medical management cannot occur. Unfortunately a large proportion of Asian Americans as well as others from HBV-endemic areas are unaware of their HBV status and have never been screened (52–53, 13).…”

“…Asian American ethnic groups differ in terms of their socioeconomic status, age distribution, duration of time since immigration to the U.S., and risk factors for the development of liver cancer (15–19). Due to this diversity, we hypothesized that there would be differences in survival outcomes among Asian American ethnic groups with HCC.…”