— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
Researchers have found higher rates of pancreatic and liver cancer
in individuals infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and now a new
study finds a 50% increased risk of gastric (stomach) cancer among
people with HBV.
According to the study published in the February 2015 issue of the British Journal of Cancer,
Chinese researchers compared gastric cancer rates in a group of 580
HBV-infected individuals and a control group of 580 healthy individuals
of similar age and gender.
People with chronic hepatitis B had gastric
cancer rates that were about 49% higher than the control group. There
were higher rates of gastric cancer even in patients with no family
history of stomach cancer.
Even patients with resolved hepatitis B
infections (who were negative for the hepatitis B surface
antigen–HBsAg-negative)–remained at higher risk of gastric cancer than
the control group.
"In addition, some synergistic effects between
HBV infection and blood type A in gastric cancer were identified,"
researchers reported, noting that having blood type A appeared to also
increase gastric cancer risk.
Researchers called for additional studies and research to determine why hepatitis B increased cancer in the digestive system.
Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2569548
http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ12.3.htmLabels: cancer risk, pancreatic cancer risk, stomach cancer
