Abstract C017: Two-decade liver and intrahepatic bile ducts cancer burden trends in Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center catchment area

Abstract Introduction and study purpose: Liver and Intrahepatic bile ducts (IBD) cancer burden in the Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center (HMNCC) catchment area is increasingly concerning. Hispanics make up a third of the catchment area population and Vietnamese immigration is expected to double the Asian population, from 9% to 18%. Both populations are at significantly greater risk for developing liver and IBD cancer. Toxic exposures linked to legacy environmental pollution from the Houston Ship Channel and UPPR Railyard site further compound this risk. To address this, we examined the trajectories or longitudinal patterns of liver and IBD cancer incidence in this region to identify the populations and geographic regions that are in greatest need of targeted cancer control efforts. Methodology: The NCI’s Joinpoint regression was used to model longitudinal trends in Liver and IBD cancer, one of the HMNCC’s priority cancers. We used NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for the period 2000 – 2022. We computed the average annual percentage change (AAPC) for incidence and mortality using Joinpoint. The longitudinal trends were compared across three regions: (i) HMNCC 8 county catchment area (HMNCC-CA), (ii) the state of Texas, and (iii) the U.S. Our 8-county CA comprises Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty and Montgomery counties. We further analyze the rate-trends for different race and ethnicities in our CA using the Texas Cancer Registry (TCR) data. Results: The rate-trends show that our HMNCC catchment area (CA) and Texas have elevated incidence, more than 20%, and mortality rates, more than 30%, compared to the nation in the last 20+ years. For incidence, the statistically significant AAPCs were observed for HMNCC-CA 2.52% (95% CI: 1.98% - 3.24%), for Texas 3.0% (95% CI: 2.71% - 3.38%) and for US 2.11% (95% CI: 1.90% - 2.35%). For mortality, the AAPCs for HMNCC-CA was 1.07% (95% CI: 0.30% - 1.92%), for Texas 1.53% (95% CI: 1.15% - 1.92%) and for US 1.64% (95% CI, 1.55% - 1.73%). Our comparisons for race and ethnicities in our CA show that Hispanic residents observed higher incidence and mortality rates compared to others over time. Non-Hispanic Asians observed steady decline in rates with an AAPC of -1.79% (95% CI: -2.68% to -0.59%) and -1.79% (95% CI, -4.15% to 0.65%) respectively for incidence and mortality. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the liver and IBD cancer incidence rates are high for population in our catchment area (CA) compared to the nation, especially for Hispanic residents. Given that the Hispanic population is expected to grow in the next decade in our CA, it is important to track its concomitant impact on our cancer burden as well as risk factors like MASLD which is expected to rise over next two decades, including environmental and social factors. As a future direction, we are building a cancer “exposome” linking incidence and mortality rates at census tract level with the socio-economic factors. Citation Format: Anil Kumar Vadathya, Catherine Wu, Nestor Esnaola, Dimpy Shah, Hung Luu, Samar Semaan, Ashton Connor, Sudha Kodali, Sadeer Al-Kindi, Arica Brandford, Jennifer Cullen. Two-decade liver and intrahepatic bile ducts cancer burden trends in Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center catchment area abstract. In: Proceedings of the 18th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities; 2025 Sep 18-21; Baltimore, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34(9 Suppl):Abstract nr C017.