Racial Inequalities in Liver Cancer Deaths Soared After Launch of Hepatitis C Drugs

A study explored racial inequalities in death from liver cancer before and after the introduction of lifesaving drugs for hepatitis C. Results showed that from 1979 to 1998, racial inequalities in mortality from liver cancer in the U.S. were declining. But, from 1998 to 2016, of the 16,770 deaths from liver cancer among blacks, the excess relative to whites increased from 27.8 percent to 45.4 percent. Concurrently, racial inequalities in death decreased for major risk factors for liver cancer, such as alcohol and diabetes.

Cedars-Sinai to Study How Fat May Promote Cancer Spread to Liver

A diagnosis of pancreatic or colon cancer often sparks dread about the disease’s likely next destination: the liver. That’s because liver metastasis is a leading cause of death in these patients. A Cedars-Sinai scientific team has been awarded a $9.1 million grant by the National Cancer Institute to study this often-fatal process, with the goal of understanding how cancer spreads to the liver and finding ways to block it.

Heterogeneity of Liver Cancer Cells Helps Explain Tumor Progression in Patients, Mount Sinai Research Found

Many liver cancer tumors contain a highly diverse set of cells, a phenomenon known as intra-tumor heterogeneity that can significantly affect the rate at which the cancer grows, Mount Sinai researchers report. The immune system’s contribution to this heterogeneity can have major clinical implications.

Natural Toxins in the Global Food Supply Continue to Threaten the Health of Underprivileged Communities

Naturally occurring chemicals in the global food supply are known to pose a burden on worldwide health. New studies have found that a certain foodborne toxin, in addition to its known health effects,, is also linked to vaccine resistance, and for the first time the global burden of disease from foodborne arsenic, lead, cadmium, and methyl mercury has been quantified.. The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) will present new studies as part of its Global Disease Burden Caused by Foodborne Chemicals and Toxins symposium on Monday, Dec. 9 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. as part of its 2019 Annual Meeting at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. This symposium will provide updates to a 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) publication which analyzed the disease burdens caused by these toxins.

New research suggests proton radiation therapy can benefit patients with challenging liver tumors

Two new studies support and inform the use of proton radiation therapy to treat patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common but often fatal type of liver cancer for which there are limited treatment options. The studies were published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, the flagship scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).