Temporal trends of health disparity in the utilization of curative-intent treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma: are we making progress?

Abstract

BACKGROUNDLiver-directed treatments: ablative therapy (AT), surgical resection (SR), liver transplantation (LT), as well Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE) improve OS for early-stage HCC. While racial and socioeconomic disparities impact access to liver-directed therapies, their temporal trends for the curative-intent treatment of HCC remain to be elucidated. METHODSWe performed chi-square, logistic regression, and temporal trends analyses on data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2011-2019. The outcome of interest was the rate of AT, SR, LT (curative-intent treatments), and TACE utilization, and the primary predictors were racial/ethnic group, and SES (insurance status). RESULTSAfrican-American and Hispanic patients had lower odds of receiving AT – (African-American: OR=0.78, p<0.001), (Hispanic: OR=0.84, p=0.005); and SR – (African-American: OR=0.71, p<0.001), (Hispanics: OR=0.64, p<0.001) compared with white patients. The odds of LT was lower for African-American (OR=0.76, p<0.001) but higher for Hispanic patients (OR=1.25, p=0.001) compared to white patients. Low SES had worse odds of AT (OR=0.79, p=0.001), SR (OR=0.66, p<0.001), and LT (OR=0.84, p=0.028) compared to high SES. While curative-intent treatments showed significant upward temporal trends among White (10.6% to 13.9%, p<0.001), and API/Other patients (14.4% to 15.7%, p=0.007), there were non-significant trends among African-American (10.9% to 10.1%, p=0.825) or Hispanic patients (12.2% to 13.7%, p=0.056). CONCLUSIONS:Our study demonstrates concerning disparities in the utilization of curative-intent treatment for HCC based on race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Moreover, racial/ethnic disparities have widened rather than improved over time.