Changing Epidemiological Trends of Hepatobiliary Carcinomas in Austria 2010-2018

Simple Summary Primary liver cancer is currently the sixth most common cancer and the third common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Incidences have increased in recent year, especially in high-income countries. The epidemiology of predisposing risk factors for hepatobiliary carcinomas have changed significantly, while treatment and therapeutic options have markedly improved. Here, we provide an update of incidence, mortality, and survival trends in recent years, in Austria. While age-adjusted incidence rates remained stable in almost all hepatobiliary carcinoma subtypes-except for gall-bladder cancer-the overall survival improved significantly. Using national registries, we investigated the epidemiological trends of hepatobiliary carcinomas in Austria between 2010 and 2018 and compared them to those reported for the periods of 1990-1999 and 2000-2009. In total, 12,577 patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 7146), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (n = 1858), extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (n = 1649), gallbladder carcinoma (n = 1365), and ampullary carcinoma (n = 559), between 2010 and 2018, were included. The median overall survival of all patients was 9.0 months. The best median overall survival was observed in patients with ampullary carcinoma (28.5 months) and the worst median overall survival was observed in patients with intrahepatic carcinoma (5.6 months). The overall survival significantly improved in all entities over the period 2010-2018 as compared with over the periods of 2000-2009 and 1990-1999. Age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates remained stable for most entities in both, men and women; only in gallbladder carcinoma, the incidence and mortality rates significantly decreased in women, whereas, in men, the incidence rates remained stable and mortality rates showed a decreasing trend. We showed that age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates were stable in most entities, except in gallbladder carcinoma. The overall survival improved in almost all entities as compared with those during 1990-2009.

Automated summary

Primary liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Incidences have increased, especially in high-income countries. The epidemiology of risk factors for hepatobiliary carcinomas has changed significantly, and treatment options have improved. This study provides an update on the incidence, mortality, and survival trends of hepatobiliary carcinomas in recent years in Austria. Age-adjusted incidence rates remained stable, but overall survival improved for most subtypes.