Attributable deaths of liver cancer in China

Objective: There is little information about contributions of the well-known risk factors to the liver cancer burden. We conducted a comparative study to estimate the liver cancer burden attributable to major risk factors.

Methods: Liver cancer deaths for adults were estimated from 978 county-level surveillance points in China in 2014. Risk factors were identified from the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Cancer Research Fund International. Population attributable fraction (PAF) by age, sex, and province was calculated using multiple formulas.

Results: In total, 72.4% of liver cancer deaths could be attributable to the studied risk factors. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was responsible for the largest fraction of liver cancer burden in both genders (PAF=55.6% in males, PAF=46.5% in females). PAFs for liver cancer burden attributable to smoking (15.7% vs. 4.8%), and alcohol drinking (10.3% vs. 1.6%) were significantly higher in males than in females. The burden of HBV-attributable deaths was the highest in Qinghai province.

Conclusions: HBV still contributes to the majority of liver cancer burden than any other risk factors. Targeted preventive measures should be implemented based on the degree of contributions of risk factors to liver cancer deaths.