Abstract 4972: Changing landscape of liver cancer disparity due to the impact of social determinate of health in Georgia

Abstract

Liver cancer (LC) is one of the most devastating malignancies. Low socioeconomic status (SES), especially poverty, negatively affects HCC outcomes. Poverty is a risk factor in cancer incidence, late-stage diagnosis, and mortality for all racial/ethnic groups. This study aims to evaluate the correlation between LC incidence and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), focusing on major ethnic groups (African American (AA) and European Americans (EA)) in Georgia (GA). We utilized Geospatial Technology (GT) to analyze the connection between SDOH and LC prevalence in AA and EA populations in GA. This study incorporated county-level LC prevalence and association with SES and health disparities. The robust data mining (All of Us, NCI Cancer Atlas, and SEER) enabled us to explore the association between SDOH and LC in the spatial context. Integrating spatial and non-spatial data on LC prevalence to SES will help predict and formulate LC prevention methods. The GT's secondary data analysis revealed that LC affects minority communities in GA. The GT analysis further demonstrates poverty, uninsured rates, and food insecurity were positively correlated with higher LC incidence, reflecting the impact of economic instability on health outcomes. Limited access to exercise and higher crime rates in some counties further compounded risks, likely through indirect effects on stress and health behaviors. Racial disparities were prominent, with AA populations experiencing a disproportionately higher burden of LC compared to EA. The analysis highlighted that GA counties with elevated poverty rates (20-33%) and higher uninsured percentages (18-26%) exhibited increased LC incidence, particularly within AA populations. In these communities, the LC rates reached 20-24 cases per 100, 000 for AA males and 15-20 for AA females, which is significantly higher compared to the rates for EA males at 10-16 cases and EA females at 6-12 cases. The study underscored notable racial disparities, revealing that AA populations bear a disproportionate burden of LC, linked to a complex interplay of socioeconomic, behavioral, and systemic influences. Additionally, the findings indicated that AA individuals had lower levels of educational attainment, with 10-20% holding a bachelor's degree, alongside higher rates of smoking (20-30%) and alcohol use (15-25%). Conversely, EA populations demonstrated more favorable SES indicators, including lower unemployment rates (6-12%) and a greater percentage with higher education (20-25%). These findings underscore the intricate interplay of socioeconomic, behavioral, and systemic factors driving LC disparities. Our finding demonstrates that SES is an essential factor that modulates LC incidences in underserved minority populations in GA. Hence, understanding the association between socioeconomic disparities will help predict and prevent LC more effectively. Citation Format: Amit Kumar Srivastav, Manoj Kumar Mishra, Shailesh Singh, Brian Rivers, James W. Lillard, Rajesh Singh. Changing landscape of liver cancer disparity due to the impact of social determinate of health in Georgia [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2025; Part 1 (Regular s); 2025 Apr 25-30; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2025;85(8_Suppl_1): nr 4972.