Hepatitis C is a risk factor for mouth and throat cancer, say
researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (abstract here).
Hep C is a serious viral infection of the liver, mainly
transmitted through infected blood via shared needles and accidental needle
sticks or through sexual contact (here). It can cause liver damage and failure, and it
is a risk factor for liver cancer. Hep C
kills 19,000 Americans yearly, but there are effective treatments (here).
The researchers, led by first author Parag Mahale, had
access to 34,500 blood samples from MD Anderson cancer patients treated between
2004 and 2014. The researchers divided Hep
C patients into two groups: those who had cancers of the head and neck region
(n = 609) and controls with cancers of the lung, esophagus and bladder (n =
1,143). They looked for differences in
Hep C infection rates.
Mahale and colleagues found that about 14% of people with
mouth or throat cancer were infected with Hep C, which is about twice the rate
as controls (OR = 2.0, 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.04 – 4.01). The association was somewhat higher in
patients who had mouth or throat cancer and who were infected with human
papillomavirus, HPV (OR = 3.0, CI = 1.3 – 6.8).
I have previously discussed the emerging evidence for HPV as
a risk factor for mouth and throat cancer (here
and here). The new research suggests that Hep C may also
play a causative role.
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