The social and economic cost of primary liver cancer in Australia

Key takeaways

Liver cancer is developing at an unprecedented rate in the Western world. The Liver Foundation commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to estimate the social and economic burden of liver cancer in Australia given the increasing rates of incidence of liver cancer.

Liver cancer is a serious chronic health condition that carries with it a high mortality rate, substantial economic costs, and significant loss of wellbeing.

• HCC has the second fastest growing incidence rate of all cancers and is the fastest growing cause of cancer-related deaths in Australia. Incidence rates have increased by more than 380% over the last four decades.
• In 2019-20 in Australia, 1,916 people were diagnosed with HCC and 1,466 people died from HCC.
• HCC is overrepresented in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people where it is the third most common cause of cancer-related death compared with seventh in the Australian population.
• The economic cost of HCC was estimated to be $522 million in 2019‑20, and the loss of wellbeing from HCC was valued at a further $4.3 billion. The health system cost per person with HCC is one of the highest out of all cancers.