Racial and Ethnic Differences in Liver Transplantation and Post-Liver Transplant Survival Among Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BackgroundRacial and ethnic disparities in diagnosis and overall outcomes for HCC are well known. We present updated real-world data on racial or ethnic differences in LT and post-LT survival among patients with HCC in a large population-based database.MethodsWe used the TriNetX database to retrospectively identify patients who had HCC (ICD-10 C22.0, C22.8) and underwent LT (CPT codes 47,135, 47,140, 47,140, 47,141, 47,142) from 2012 to 2022 and compared outcomes across racial and ethnic subgroups.ResultsMajority of the patients were Caucasians (2403/2901, 84.8%), followed by African Americans (267/2901, 9.2%) Hispanic/Asian (231/2901, 7.9%). At follow up of 5 years, we noted no significant difference in mortality between AA and Caucasian patients [HR = 1.087 (95% CI 0.76, 1.56, p = 0.59)] as well as Hispanic/Asian and Caucasian patients [HR = 1.14 (95% CI 0.73, 1.78, p = 0.10)].ConclusionsThese results indicate that stringent implementation of policies aimed at ensuring equitable access to LT may contribute to bridging disparities in overall outcomes in HCC.