Cancer incidence in people with hepatitis B or C infection: A large community-based linkage study

Background/Aims Risks of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C virus (HBV/HCV) infection are well known, those for other cancers are less well understood. The aim was to quantify the risk of cancers among persons diagnosed with HBV/HCV infections. Methods The data from a cohort of 39109 HBV, 75834 HCV, and 2604 HBV/HCV co-infected persons notified to the State health department, 1990–2002, were probabilistically linked to the Cancer Registry and standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) for cancer were calculated. Results The match rate for any cancer was 2.7%, 2.3% and 3.3% for HBV, HCV and HBV/HCV co-infected notifications. SIRs for HCC were 30.6 (95% CI 25.7–36.5), 22.7 (95% CI 19.1–26.5) and 30.3 (95% CI 13.6–67.5), respectively. Increased risk was detected for Burkitt’s lymphoma and HBV (SIR 12.9, 95% CI 5.4–30.9) and immunoproliferative malignancies following HCV (SIR 5.6, 95% CI 1.8–17.5). Conclusions The risk of HCC in the infected cohort was 20–30 times greater than in the uninfected population with SIRs two to three times greater than those for the other HBV/HCV infection associated cancers. The modest though significant risk of immunoproliferative malignancies associated with HCV infection is consistent with recent findings