Liver and intrahepatic bile duct malignancies are an increasing cause of mortality in the United States due unclear reasons over the past 20 years, perhaps proportionately due to overall increase in age of the US population and improvement of diagnostic/screening strategies. This study utilizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER) database, investigated trends of demographic (gender, race, age group) and geographical differences in liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer related mortality. Average annual percentage changes were assessed using the CDC WONDER data base with respect to age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) and annual percentage change (APC). This study used the Joinpoint Regression Program to determine statistical significance of mortality trends between 1999 and 2023. During this study period (1999-2023), overall higher mortality rates were noted in the American Indian and Alaskan native population and a decrease in mortality in the Asian and Pacific Islander population, with the South and West regions having the highest AAMR. Furthermore, mortality rates demonstrated significantly greater trend in liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancers in males than in females during the entire study period. These results serve to inform on demographics that resources should be focused towards to make policy and encourage screening and diagnosing for at risk groups and regions.
Berg et al. (Wed,) studied this question.