Virus World

Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is associated with the risk for nonliver cancers, especially digestive system cancers, according to findings from a population-based cohort study published in JAMA Network Open. “In a large prospective Chinese cohort of 496,732 adults, we found that participants who were (hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)] seropositive were at an increased risk of developing [hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)] and several nonliver cancers, including stomach cancer, oral cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lymphoma,” Ci Song, MD, from Nanjing Medical University in China, and colleagues wrote. In the study, researchers used a dipstick assay to detect serum HBsAg among the nearly 500,000 participants to determine the association between HBV infection and risk for all cancer types, according to the study.

 

“This study provides compelling evidence for the association between HBV infection and all types of cancer ” Song and colleagues wrote. “Strengths of the CKB study included its prospective design, the inclusion of a geographically widespread Chinese population living in urban and rural areas, and careful adjustment for potential confounders.”

However, they also noted some study limitations, including the rate of HBsAg positivity among the CKB cohort, which was 3.1% lower than a rate found in a national serosurvey.