Epidemiology of primary liver cancer in Singapore

Abstract

Primary liver cancer occurs with high frequency in most parts of East and South East Asia. The age standardised rates for most Western countries are below 2 per 100,000 per year for males and below 1 for females. In Singapore, the rate is 29.1 for males and 7.7 for females. There is a male preponderance in Singapore with a ratio of males to females of 3.8 in age standardised incidence rates. The peak incidence is in the 6th decade (30.1% of cases) and in the 7th decade (31.7% of cases). The Chinese have the highest incidence amongst the different ethnic groups. Epidemiological studies done on migrant populations strongly suggest that environmental factors are more important than genetic factors in the aetiology of liver cancer.