Trends in mortality of liver cancer before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic, 2017–2021

Abstract

AbstractWe studied the trends in liver cancer‐related mortality before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Quarterly age‐standardized mortality and quarterly percentage change (QPC) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) were estimated using the US national mortality database 2017–2021. Quarterly age‐standardized mortality from HCC decreased steadily with an average QPC of −0.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.6% to −0.2%). A decrease in hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus‐related HCC mortality of −2.2% (95% CI: −2.4% to −1.9%) and −1.1% (95% CI: −2.0% to −0.3%) was noted. In contrast, mortality for HCC from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (3.0%, 95% CI: 2.0%–4.0%) and alcohol‐related liver disease (1.3%, 95% CI: 0.8%–1.9%) demonstrated a linear increase. There was a linear increase in the quarterly age‐standardized ICC‐related mortality (0.8%, 95% CI: 0.5%–1.0%). While ICC‐related mortality continued to increase, HCC‐related mortality tended to decline mainly due to a decline in mortality due to viral hepatitis.