Sociodemographic impact on survival in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: a survival epidemiology and end results study.

AIM: To investigate outcomes in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients stratified by sociodemographic and clinical factors in a population study. MATERIALS & METHODS: Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was used to identify patients diagnosed in 2000-2011. Overall survival (OS) was stratified using patient sociodemographic characteristics and American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) staging. Log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify prognostic factors of OS. RESULTS: In patients with AJCC stage I and II unresectable HCC, prolonged OS was correlated with being married, younger age, ethnicity, geographic location, living in large urban areas, being insured and higher income and education levels. CONCLUSION: In AJCC stage I and II unresectable HCC patients with favorable sociodemographic factors, prolonged OS maybe in part related to better access to cancer-directed therapy.