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“Our study’s aim was to characterize utilization of HCC screening receipt and its association with early tumor detection and improved survival in a nationally representative cohort of patients in the United States,” wrote Debra T. Choi, PhD, MPH, of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and her colleagues.
The researchers retrospectively studied a cohort of 13,174 patients with HCC from 2003 to 2013 included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program–Medicare database. They examined the acquisition of HCC in the 3 years leading up to HCC diagnosis using three separate categories: consistent, inconsistent, or no screening. Dr. Choi and her colleagues studied the associations between receiving HCC screening and subsequent effects on overall survival.
“HCC prognosis depends on tumor stage at the time of diagnosis, with curative treatment options only available for patients diagnosed at an early stage,” the researchers wrote. “Patients with early-stage HCC can achieve 5-year survival rates of 70% if they undergo surgical resection or liver transplantation, compared to a median survival of 1 year for patients with advanced HCC,” they added.
After multivariable analysis, the investigators found that 51.1% of patients with cirrhosis did not receive screening in the 3 years leading up to HCC diagnosis. In addition, they went on to report that only 6.8% of patients were consistently screened on an annual basis.
“HCC screening receipt was associated with early tumor detection and potentially improved overall survival, with attenuated benefits in those with inconsistent screening compared to those who had received consistent screening,” they explained.
In terms of efficacy, consistent screening was associated with an increased rate of early-stage tumor detection (odds ratio, 1.98, 95% confidence interval, 1.68-2.33) and decreased risk of death (hazard ratio, 0.76, 95% CI, 0.70-0.83) after adjustment for lead time bias. Given these results, Dr. Choi and her colleagues said that early HCC screening may help with hepatic tumor detection at later disease stages.
“Given the demonstrated benefits of HCC screening, [it] is an important step to reverse the high rates of late stage diagnosis and poor survival,” they added.
The investigators noted that several patient-specific factors may be driving these associations. In particular, they found a link between female sex and receiving HCC screening. Dr. Choi and her colleagues suggested this association is not related to the perceived benefits from screening.
“Studies have suggested females may be more likely to adhere to screening recommendations; however, patient adherence is not a common barrier to HCC screening completion and therefore it is unclear if this is the sole driver of this association,” they acknowledged.
Moving forward, the researchers highlighted the importance of educating primary care providers about the benefits of screening. Moreover, they said that screening receipt is currently on the rise, which has shown positive effects on overall survival.
The Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety funded the study. Additional support was provided by the Texas A&M Health Science Center Engineering Experiment Station big data seed grant program. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
SOURCE: Choi DT et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018 Oct 25. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2018.10.031.