U.S. Liver-Cancer Death Rate Has Surged 43% in 16 Years

The death rate from liver cancer in the U.S. skyrocketed for American adults between 2000 and 2016, according to a new report, because more people are developing the deadly disease than at any time on record. The figures, which come from a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, are at odds with a decrease in mortality for all cancers combined. Liver-cancer death rates increased for both men and women 25 and older, as well as white, black, and Hispanic people—only Asians and Pacific Islanders saw a decrease in mortality from the disease. “I think the main reason for the increase in liver cancer incidence and death rate in the U.S. is the increase in the prevalence of excess body weight and hepatitis C virus infection in baby boomers,” said Farhad Islami, scientific director of cancer-surveillance research at the American Cancer Society. Throughout the 16 years analyzed, the death rate of liver among men was two to 2.5 times higher than it was for women, according to the report.