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More and more people need liver transplants
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A new study suggests that the demand for liver transplants, which are needed by patients infected with hepatitis C and with cirrhosis, has increased among Americans born between 1941 and 1960. That 20-year period saw a temporary “baby boom,” with birth rates in the United States beginning to decline again in the late 1950s. Those born during that period were dubbed baby boomers, a term that has become common in the United States.
The continued increase in demand for liver transplants is driven by the fact that more baby boomers with hepatitis C are developing liver cancer, but the number of people requiring transplants is on the decline as patients born during this period begin to age.
The results of the scientists’ research are presented in the December issue of the journal “Liver Transplantation”.
Previous studies have shown that among patients living with chronic hepatitis C, 10-20% will develop liver cirrhosis, and 5% will develop hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), the most common liver tumor. Hepatocellular carcinoma is the third leading cause of cancer deaths. Experts note that hepatitis C is the main risk factor that provokes the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. In 47% of cases of liver cancer, the cause is the hepatitis C virus.
The peak of the infection occurred in the generation born between 1940 and 1965. They were in their twenties and thirties between 1979 and 1989. That was when the risk of contracting the hepatitis C virus was highest.
"Diagnosing hepatitis C is complicated by the fact that the disease can remain asymptomatic for a long time before irreversible liver damage occurs," said lead study author Dr. Scott Biggins of Colorado State University.
The study involved patients who were waiting for a liver transplant between 1995 and 2010.
All participants were divided into those with hepatitis C alone and hepatitis C with hepatocellular carcinoma. These patients were classified by year of birth and found that the highest rates of hepatitis C were among those born (in descending order) during the periods 1951–1955, 1956–1960, 1946–1950, and 1941–1945. These four groups accounted for 81% of all new liver transplant registrations.
In addition, the researchers note that between 2000 and 2010, the number of new candidates waiting for a liver transplant increased by 4%. Most of them were born during the baby boom period, from 1941 to 1960.
"Over time, the number of transplants will decrease. This is due to the aging of patients. Many of them, although they will need a transplant, will not be able to perform the operation due to their health condition," say specialists.
Today, there are about two million baby boomers in the United States infected with the hepatitis C virus.
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