More Americans Dying From Liver Cancer
The mortality rates from liver cancer increased substantially to 43% from 2000 to 2016, according to a report released Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The increase of death rates has placed liver cancer in sixth place from the ninth place standing as the leading causes of death in 2016.
With the rise of the liver cancer death rates, Dr. Jiaquan Xu, the author of the report cited this is strongly related to the assumption that more people are developing this deadly cancer.
The data of the research were collected from adults 25 and older in the United States from 2000 to 2016.
The Culprits
Aside from the disclosure of data for the death rates from liver cancer, the report also cited reasons for the surge in death rates due to this particular cancer.
According to Dr. Farhad Islami, the scientific director of cancer surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, the rise in the death rates is attributed to obesity and hepatitis C virus infection.
“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.”
Aside from that, the opioid epidemic might also be one of the contributing factors, said Dr. Manish A. Shah, a medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. Hepatitis C, spread by sharing needles, caused the surging rates of liver cirrhosis, or scarring due to damage to the liver, in the 1990s and 2000s, Shah said.
Prevalence by States
The highest recorded number of deaths was in Washington D.C., and lowest in Vermont. Illinois was in the middle.
According to state-by-state data from the CDC, in Illinois in 2016, 1,006 adults died from liver cancer.
When it comes to incidence of death by gender, more men died of liver cancer. In fact, the death rate for men was between 2 and 2.5 times the rate for women, according to the CDC.
However, the most common risk factors such as obesity and diabetes can be prevented. That is why lifestyle changes are crucial to curb the risk of of developing cancer.