Why some patients with cirrhosis miss recommended liver cancer screening
Official title: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Surveillance Among Patients with Cirrhosis Across Five Safety Net Organizations
Funded at Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research · NIH-11224053 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at why African American, Hispanic, and non-English-speaking patients with cirrhosis are less likely to get recommended liver cancer screening and how the COVID-19 pandemic changed that.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Palo Alto, United States) |
| Project start | December 22, 2021 |
| Project end | November 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $181,766 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MD017063-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11224053 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are adults with cirrhosis receiving care at the participating safety-net clinics—especially African American, Hispanic, or non-English-speaking patients.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without cirrhosis, those treated outside the participating safety-net organizations, or people not represented in the targeted racial/ethnic or language groups are unlikely to directly benefit from this specific project.
What this research studies
If you have cirrhosis, researchers will review medical records across five safety-net health systems to see who received timely liver cancer screening before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. They will also survey and interview clinicians to learn about knowledge, practices, and pandemic-related changes that affect screening. The team will use statistical, multi-level mediation analyses to untangle how patient, provider, and system factors drive disparities and to link screening gaps to cancer stage, treatment, and survival. The work specifically focuses on African American, Hispanic, and non-English-speaking patients cared for in safety-net settings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could guide changes in clinics and policies to reduce racial and language-based gaps in liver cancer screening so cancers are diagnosed earlier and more people can get effective treatment.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have documented racial and language disparities in HCC screening, but comprehensive multi-site, multi-level analyses that include pandemic-related impacts are relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research
Palo Alto, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wong, Robert John — Palo Alto Veterans Instit for Research
- Study coordinator: Wong, Robert John
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Investigating the link between gut bacteria and liver cancer risk in people with cirrhosis.
This study is looking at how the bacteria in your gut might affect the risk of liver cancer in people with liver cirrhosis, especially in the Latinx community, and it hopes to find helpful markers that could lead to better ways to screen and prevent cancer for those at risk.
-
Understanding why some patients with cirrhosis receive less screening for liver cancer than others
This study looks at why some people with liver cirrhosis, especially from minority and underserved groups, aren't getting screened for liver cancer as often as they should, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and aims to find ways to make it easier for everyone to get the care they need.
-
Improving early detection of liver cancer in patients with cirrhosis
This study is working on finding better ways to catch liver cancer early in people with cirrhosis by creating personalized screening plans that take into account each person's unique risk factors, which could help doctors diagnose the cancer sooner and improve treatment outcomes.
-
Glutamine and macrophage behavior in liver cancer
A funded project at a medical university aims to understand how the liver’s immune cells interact with a specific type of liver cancer by looking at metabolism, especially glutamine and ammonia.
-
Adding PSMA PET/CT imaging to liver cancer care for veterans
This project tests a new PET imaging approach to help diagnose and guide treatment for liver cancer in veterans.
-
Blood markers to catch early liver cancer in Hispanic people with hepatitis B
This project will see if a blood test can find liver cancer earlier in Hispanic people who have chronic hepatitis B.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.