International epidemiology of liver cancer: geographical distribution, secular trends and predicting the future

Liver cancer (LC) is ranked seventh common cancer in terms of the incidence; and the fourth in terms of the mortality of cancer in the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the international distribution of the incidence and mortality of LC in 2018 based on various socio-economic and political divisions in the world.

This study was conducted through the use of the incidence and mortality cancer data from GLOBOCAN Project in 2018. The Age-Standardized Incidence Rate (ASIR) and Age Standardized Mortality Rate (ASMR) of LC were expressed per 100,000 people. In the current report, we used Pearson correlation method to assess the correlation between ASIR and ASMR. Statistical significance was considered to be P < 0.05.

The highest ASIR and ASMR of LC occurred in Asia (ASIR = 11.4 and ASMR = 10.5), and Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization (ASIR = 17.4 and ASMR = 15.8), and those regions with income level equal to upper middle income (ASIR = 13.4 and ASMR = 6.6). Furthermore, the lowest ASIR and ASMR of LC occurred in in Latin America and Caribbean (ASIR = 5) and Europe (ASMR = 4.4), the South-East Asia region (ASIR = 4.5 and ASMR = 4.3), and regions with Low middle income (ASIR = 5.7) and regions with high income (ASMR = 2.7).

LC is one of the most important cancer forms in the world in terms of incidence and mortality. It is important to prevent exposure to known risk factors for LC by increasing the level of knowledge and attitudes of the community and prevent of morbidity and mortality of the population with early diagnosis and treatment of patients.