Asian Pacific Liver Center : About Our Center

The Asian Pacific Liver Center at St. Vincent Medical Center > About Our Center

Each year, thousands of Asian-Americans learn they have hepatitis B. Many die needlessly because they wait too long to be tested or to seek treatment.

Our goal at the Asian Pacific Liver Center is to save lives through education, vaccination, diagnosis, treatment and support for our patients and their families—all in a culturally sensitive and confidential environment. Our physician specialists and expert staff are here to help patients through all aspects of their care, backed by the comprehensive services of St. Vincent Medical Center.

Welcome to the Asian Pacific Liver Center (APLC)! We are a specialized clinic dedicated to the prevention, detection and treatment of hepatitis, with an emphasis on hepatitis B in the Asian-American community.

Each year, thousands of Asian-Americans die from cirrhosis (in which normal liver tissue is replaced with non-functioning, fibrous tissue) and/or liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis B infection. This disease runs rampant in part because it is a silent killer: In its earliest and most treatable stages, hepatitis B typically has no symptoms. By the time symptoms appear, effective treatment is much more difficult.

Our message to you is get tested! If you’re one of the estimated 10 percent of people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent with hepatitis, you could save your life and the lives of others you might expose to the disease.

Learn how you can get the potentially lifesaving hepatitis B test.

Hepatitis B Statistics

Some important facts about Hepatitis B:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1.25 million—1,250,000—Americans are already chronically infected with the hepatitis B virus, also known as HBV.
The prevalence of the hepatitis B virus is particularly high in the Asian-American community. Some estimates are that as many as 1 in 10 Asian-Americans¹—including thousands in the Los Angeles area—are infected with the virus. Most of these infections are passed from mother to child during birth or occur as a result of exposure to infected blood in early childhood.
Every year, about 5,000 Americans die from complications of hepatitis B.²
Hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver cancer among Asian-Americans, accounting for up to 60% of liver cancer cases1.

The good news

If you do not already have hepatitis B, a vaccine is available to protect you from the disease. If you do have hepatitis B, the earlier you detect the disease, the better chance you have to fight it. The key is to get tested—even if you don’t have any symptoms.

Learn how you can get the potentially lifesaving hepatitis B test.

¹Source: Asian Liver Center at Stanford University
²Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Viral Hepatitis