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Hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer, is typically found in men older than the age of 50. According to the National Library of Medicine, it is primarily the result of scarring of the liver called cirrhosis, a condition associated with alcohol abuse and chronic inflammation of the liver.
While alcohol abuse has long been the predominant cause of hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States, a new report from the University of Southern California indicates diabetes is now considered a significant risk factor for this form of liver cancer, and Hispanics are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to be at risk if they have diabetes.
“People with diabetes have a two to threefold higher risk for hepatocellular carcinoma compared with those without diabetes,” V. Wendy Setiawan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, said, as reported by ANI.
“We also found that the interethnic differences in the prevalence of diabetes were consistent with the pattern of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence observed across ethnicities: Ethnic groups with a high prevalence of diabetes also have high hepatocellular carcinoma rates, and those with a lower prevalence of diabetes have lower hepatocellular carcinoma rates.”
Hispanics were 2.77 times more likely to be diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma compared to Native Hawaiians at 2.48 times the risk, African-Americans at 2.16 times the risk, and Japanese-Americans at 2.07 time the risk.
Read full story: http://voxxi.com/2013/12/12/hispanic-risk-hepatocellular-carcinoma/