After six months of chemotherapy and ongoing radiation treatments, Michael Higgins is hoping for clues as to why he and roughly 1,000 other Hawaii residents contracted liver cancer.

The 55-year-old Kailua resident, who was diagnosed in October with cancer of the bile duct, which is part of the liver, is among the 184 newly diagnosed residents each year with the condition, which is almost always fatal.

Gov. David Ige signed a bill into law Monday that provides legislative funding for the first time to the University of Hawaii Cancer Center to research why Hawaii has one of the highest rates of liver cancer in the country. Lawmakers granted $350,000 this year to fund part of a three-year study, and advocates say they will lobby next session for more money to continue the research.

“I hope they can find the reasons why so many people are getting it, because it’s not very clear,” Higgins said. “It’s not an old person’s disease. People as young as 20s and 30s are getting it, and it’s tragic because it’s heavy-duty and it’s notorious for coming back. If they can find out what’s going on, this would be important for a lot of Hawaii residents as well as the world.”

While other cancers are decreasing locally, liver cancer is rising 1% to 2% a year with the state’s rate more than 30% higher than the national average. What’s more, the highest incidence and mortality rates are in Native Hawaiian males and Chinese females, which researchers suspect may be related to the environment.

While liver cancer is most commonly caused by the hepatitis B and C viruses and heavy alcohol consumption, researchers will examine other factors that may be contributing to the high rates of the disease. They include liver flukes, a parasitic flatworm found in fish, shrimp and vegetables such as watercress. Researchers also will study aflatoxins, a fungus abundant in warm and humid regions that can grow on aged rice, grains and nuts when improperly stored. This can cause chronic inflammation in the liver leading to the development of the disease over decades with no obvious symptoms.

“Every two days a person is diagnosed with liver and bile duct cancer in Hawaii,” said Lucien Wong, who lost his wife to cancer of the bile duct. “If they can identify liver flukes and aflatoxins and warn people, that would cut down the … incidence. Right now there’s 1,000 people that have liver and bile duct cancer, and the chances of their survival are very slim. That’s why it’s so important.”