title: Ethnic differences in hepatocellular carcinoma: implications for liver transplantation.
abstract: Liver transplantation (LT) as a treatment for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) provides excellent outcomes if restricted to patients who meet the Milan criteria (MC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of ethnicity on eligibility for LT based on the MC. This is a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with HCC at our institution between January 2000 and September 2005. We identified 169 patients, of whom 135 were male (80%), 108 were Caucasian (64%), 29% were African American (AA) and 7% were of other ethnicity. Eighty two patients (49%) met the MC at diagnosis. Age, gender, severity of liver disease or insurance status was not predictive of meeting MC at diagnosis. Ethnicity was the only significant predictor for failure to meet MC. Significantly fewer Caucasians exceeded the MC compared to AA (44 vs. 71%; P = 0.0015). Conclusion AA are more likely to present with HCC that exceeds the MC.
authors.affiliation: University of Cincinnati, 231 Albert Sabin Way, MSB Room 6363, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0595, USA. Nyingi.Kemmer@uc.edu
authors.forename: Nyingi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kemmer
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Neff
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Secic
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zacharias
authors.forename: Tiffany
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data