Racial disparity and their impact on hepatocellular cancer outcomes in inner-city New Orleans

The role of socioeconomic factors that affect survival, particularly for hepatocellular cancer (HCC), has yet to be fully analyzed. This study attempts to elucidate those racial and socioeconomic factors that affect differences in survival for patients with HCC.

In a retrospective cohort study of 206 patients with HCC diagnosed in an inner-city urban center from 2003 to 2011, outcomes by race (African Americans versus white) were analyzed. Additional attention was paid to socioeconomic factors. Continuous variables were compared with the Student t-test, and categorical variables were compared with the χ(2) or Fisher exact test. Multivariate analysis was conducted using a logistic regression model. Patient death and survival data were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards.

Comparison of 138 white and 68 African-American patients revealed that African-American patients were more likely to present with larger tumor size at the time of diagnosis (4.7 vs 3.7 cm; P < .05). African-American patients were also more likely to be intravenous drug users (25.4% vs 11.6%; P < .05) and have cirrhosis from hepatitis C (81% vs 60%; P < .01). African-American patients were less likely to have private insurance compared with white patients (68% vs 92%; P < .01). Despite these findings in our inner-city practice, there was no difference in liver transplantation rates or survival rates between the 2 groups.

Despite presentation with less-favorable tumor characteristics, African-American patients are able to achieve survival that is comparable with their white counterparts when treated in a program that is attuned to the challenges faced by their specific population.