Higher rates of chronic hepatitis B may explain why liver cancer cases among Asian and Pacific Islanders are expected to climb 134 percent by 2030 compared to 28 percent among non-Hispanic whites, according to a report from the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders tend to get liver cancer through hepatitis B, a liver disease typically passed from mother to child during the birthing process.
According to a University of California (UC) Davis Cancer Center press release, an estimated 2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis B. The risk of liver cancer for those with the disease is 100 times greater than it is for those without the disease.
The UC Davis Cancer Center works to address the disproportionate burden of liver cancer on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through research funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. ♦
For more information, visit www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/cancer.