By: James Pitt  Dec. 19, 2018

Gastrointestinal hemorrhage contributed to 3% of hospitalizations and 2.35% of in-hospital deaths among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma as a primary or secondary diagnosis, according to a Dexur analysis of 2013-2017 Medicare claims data.

By: James Pitt  Nov. 28, 2018

Sepsis is a major killer of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. In the last five years, 22% of in-hospital deaths among Medicare inpatients with HCC involved severe sepsis.

The percentage of HCC deaths that involve severe sepsis appears to exceed the percentage of overall cancer deaths that involve severe sepsis. According to Williams et. al (2004), 8.5% of cancer deaths overall involve severe sepsis.

By: James Pitt  Nov. 21, 2018

Key Statistics on Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver cancer.

• As of 2016, there were approximately 40,000 cases in the US and over a million worldwide.
• Incidence is three times higher in men than women.
• More than 80% of patients with HCC have preexisting cirrhosis.
• Between 1% and 8% of patients with cirrhosis develop HCC per year, according to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.