- Hepatopancreatobiliary cancers are cancers of the liver, biliary tract, and pancreas
- Rapidly fatal malignancies
- Poorly understood etiology and biology
- Often diagnosed at a late stage, after the primary tumor has spread to adjacent or distant organs, precluding curative therapy
- Africans have higher incidences of these cancers than Americans, Asians, or Europeans.
- Africans are also more likely to be diagnosed with these cancers at younger ages and have higher mortality from these cancers than many other racial/ethnic groups worldwide.