S.B. 2049 Summary

• Appropriates funds to the University of Hawaii Cancer Center to study why Hawaii has the highest or second highest rate of liver and bile duct cancer in the nation.

• Research will examine the prevalence of liver fluke infection, aflatoxin ingestion, and intrahepatic bile duct dilation in the general population and liver cancer patients over a three-year period costing $1,100,000 total ($340,000 for year one, $380,000 for each remaining year).

• Funds must be matched on a one-to-one basis by federal funds.

• Hawaii currently has approximately 184 newly diagnosed cases of liver cancer annually and about 1,000 patients fighting liver and bile duct cancer, with liver cancer cases increasing at 2.1 percent annually in males and 1.3 percent in females from 2004-2013.

• Act takes effect July 1, 2050.