Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Dec 28, 2017; 9(36): 1346-1351
Published online Dec 28, 2017. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v9.i36.1346
Women receive more inpatient resections and ablations for hepatocellular carcinoma than men
Lindsay Sobotka, Alice Hinton, Lanla Conteh
Lindsay Sobotka, Department of Internal Medicine, the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
Alice Hinton, Division of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
Lanla Conteh, Section of Hepatology, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, the Hepatocellular Carcinoma Multidisciplinary Clinic, the James Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
Author contributions: Sobotka L, Hinton A and Conteh L contributed equally to this work; Hinton A collected the data and performed statistical analysis; Sobotka L and Conteh L analyzed the data, drafted the manuscript and revised for important intellectual content; Conteh L supervised the study.
Institutional review board statement: The Ohio State University Data and Specimen Policy and Human Subjects Research Policy does not require Institutional Review Board approval for population-based public data sets. Per 45 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 46.101), research using certain publicly available data sets does not involve “human subjects”.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Lanla Conteh, MD, MPH, Director of Hepatology, Hepatobiliary Tumor Program, Director of Hepatology Outreach Program, Section of Hepatology, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, the Hepatocellular Carcinoma Multidisciplinary Clinic, the James Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, 410 W. 10th Street, Columbus, OH 43210, United States. lanla.conteh@osumc.edu
Telephone: +1-614-2931456 Fax: +1-614-2936720
Received: September 10, 2017
Peer-review started: September 22, 2017
First decision: November 3, 2017
Revised: November 14, 2017
Accepted: December 4, 2017
Article in press: December 5, 2017
Published online: December 28, 2017
Processing time: 107 Days and 12.2 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Gender disparities have been noted in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), specifically with liver transplantation.

Research motivation

There has been an emphasis on evaluating gender disparities in healthcare; HCC is not an exception. Gender disparities in the treatment for HCC have been noted in the past, specifically in transplantation. Studies reveal that men were more likely to receive a liver transplantation during pre-model for end stage liver disease (MELD) organ allotment, while women were more likely to die while waiting for organ transplantation. Other studies have concluded that women were more likely to receive resection for earlier stage disease.

Research objectives

The aim of this study is to determine if disparities continue to exist despite an emphasis to reduce disparities in healthcare.

Research methods

A retrospective database analysis utilizing the NIS was performed.

Research results

The authors determined that women are more likely to undergo an ablation or resection then men. Disparities in liver transplantation have resolved. Further research should be completed to determine ways to reduce gender disparities in hepatocellular carcinoma given the effect this has on patient mortality and healthcare cost.

Research conclusions

This study shows that a gender difference in the treatment of HCC continues to exist, specifically with resection and ablation. It is important to recognize this disparity and make an effort to reduce this given that interventions are associated with decreased financial burden and lower 30-d mortality rate.

Research perspectives

It is unclear why the previous disparity continues to exist, and further research should be completed to determine the cause and ways to reduce this difference between genders.