Background The overall cancer rate is going down across the U.S., however liver cancer incidence is increasing, especially in Philadelphia. Approximately 70% of liver cancer cases are caused by hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV). Notably, Asian Americans (AAs) are disproportionally affected by liver cancer with mortality rate 60% higher than that of non-Hispanic White. Methods We partnered with community-based organizations (CBOs) using community-based participatory research approach. CBOs were involved in all steps of the project, and co- developed/co-delivered community education to increase awareness of liver cancer prevention and screening in Philadelphia. 152 Asian American community members recruited from collaborating CBOs and participated in the educational workshops.

Demographic information and knowledge on HBV, HCV, and liver cancer were collected before and after the education. Statistical analysis of Chi-square and t-test were conducted to measure the education’s effect. Results Less than half of the participants rated their health condition as “good and above” (48.95%). With regard to liver cancer prevention awareness, less than one third of the participants had heard about HBV (31.58%) and HCV (21.05%) from their primary care providers, and even fewer of them ever got HBV (21.71%) and HCV (2.63%) testing. Participants’ knowledge increased significantly from the pre-test to the post-intervention evaluation (7.39 vs. 9.24, p<0.001). Conclusions Our findings add to the growing body of evidence on the effectiveness of culturally sensitive and linguistically competent education intervention in raising awareness and increasing knowledge of cancer prevention in underserved communities. We will discuss the success and lessons learned regarding engaging community, participant recruitment, retention, and implementation strategies.

Citation Format: Kerry Traub, Lin Zhu, Wenyue Lu, Safa Ibrahim, Elizabeth Yi, Ada Wong, Evelyn Gonzalez, Marilyn Fraser, Yin Tan, Grace Ma, Olorunseun Ogunwobi, Ming-Chin Yeh. A culturally-sensitive and linguistically competent community-based hepatitis B and C intervention for underserved Asian American communities [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: Thirteenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2020 Oct 2-4. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(12 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-053.