Mahale P, Shiels MS, Lynch CF, et al. - Researchers investigated how US general population hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-specific death rates are affected by liver transplantation (LT). For adult HCCs, they estimated age-standardized incidence (1987-2017) as well as incidence-based mortality (IBM) rates (1991-2017). There were 129,487 HCC cases, including 45.9% with localized cancer. Annually, HCC incidence rose 4.0% on average. For HCC overall, and particularly for localized stage HCC, a rise in IBM was also documented. In both non-transplanted and transplanted cases, a reduction in HCC-specific mortality was evident over time. Overall, in patients with localized HCC, there was a survival benefit conferred by LT. The effect of transplantation on the general population HCC-specific death rates was limited by diagnosis of many cases at advanced stages, limited availability of donor livers, and improved mortality for non-transplanted patients.