Mortality Trends of Liver Cancer Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes at the Global and National Level

BACKGROUND:

Primary liver cancer (PLC) is a commonly diagnosed malignancy, especially in developing countries. Diabetes is one of the well-determined risk factors for PLC. We aimed to describe the temporal trends of PLC mortality among diabetic patients.

METHODS:

We retrieved the PLC mortality data among diabetic patients from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2017 online database. Estimated average percentage change (EAPC) was used to quantify the PLC age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) trends, by sex and country, between 1990 and 2017.

RESULTS:

Globally, the number of PLC related deaths increased from 3732.1 in 1990 to 9506.4 in 2017, with the ASMR increased from 0.09/100,000 to 0.12/100,000 (EAPC = 0.98, 95% CI 0.82, 1.14) among diabetic patients. Both the ASMR of PLC and its temporal trend were highly heterogeneous across the world. Between 1990 and 2017, a total of 135, 19, and 41 countries or territories experienced a significant increase, remained stable, and experienced a significant decrease in PLC ASMR, respectively. The greatest increase was mainly detected in developed countries, such as the USA, the UK, and Australia. By contrast, the most pronounced decrease was majorly found in developing regions.

CONCLUSIONS:

In diabetic patients, the PLC mortality was significantly increased at the global level and in approximately 70% of countries or territories over the last three decades. The increasing trend indicated that diabetes is an increasingly important risk factor for PLC and suggested that more tailored prevention strategies are needed for each country.