Trends of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Inpatients Mortality and Financial Burden From 2011 to 2017: A Nationwide Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Liver cancer, including Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the seventh most common tumor worldwide. Previously, the financial burden of HCC in the United States between 2002 and 2011 was noted to be continuously increasing. This study aims to evaluate temporal trends of hospitalizations due to HCC.

METHOD: This is a retrospective analysis utilizing the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database. All subjects admitted between 2011 and 2017 with a diagnosis of HCC were identified. The primary trend characteristics were in-hospital mortality, hospital charges, and length of stay.

RESULTS: An increase in hospitalization from 67,779 (0.18%) admissions in 2011 to 84,580 (0.23%) admissions in 2017(P<0.05) was noted. Most patients were 45 to 64 years old (median 50%), predominantly men (median 68%) (P<0.05). The primary health care payer was Medicare (Median 49%) and Medicaid (Median 18%) (P<0.05). The most common geographical location was the south (Median 36%) (P<0.05). Most patients were admitted to large hospitals (Median 62%) in urban areas (P<0.05). The median inpatient mortality was estimated to be 9% in 2017 (P<0.05), which has decreased from 10%(P<0.05) in 2011. The total charges per admission have increased steadily from $58,406 in 2011 to $78,791 in 2017 (P<0.05). The median length of stay has increased from 5.79 (SD 6.93) in 2011 to 6.07 (SD 8.3) in 2017(P<0.05). The most common mortality risk factor was sepsis, Acute renal failure, and GI hemorrhage.

CONCLUSION: HCC-related admissions continue to be on the rise. HCC mortality has decreased across the years with earlier diagnoses and advances in therapy. However, we observed a significant increase in financial burden on health care with increasing in-hospital costs, a finding that needs to be verified in prospective trials.