ecancermedicalscience

Research

Spectrum of hepatitis B and hepatitis C-related cancers in India

6 Sep 2024
Sivaranjini Kannusamy, Amey Oak, Sandhya Cheulkar, Kamesh Maske, Esha Dashmukhe, Ashwini Patil, Manisha Morajkar, Manju Sengar, Ganesh Balasubramaniam, Rajesh Dikshit

Introduction: Hepatitis-B virus infection contributes to 40%–50% of the Hepato-cellular carcinomas (HCC) in India, while hepatitis-C virus infection accounts for 12%–32% of cases. This study aimed at determining the patterns of cancers among patients with hepatitis B and C.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective study of cancer patients with histologically proven diagnoses of cancer registered at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai between 2017 and 2018. The proportional incidence ratio (PIR) was computed by dividing the observed number of site-specific cancer cases by the expected number.

Results: The study participants’ mean (SD) age was 48.69 (±16.91) years with a male-to-female ratio of 1.36. The prevalence of hepatitis B and C was 1.93% and 1.10%, respectively. Liver cancer showed the highest occurrence rate with notably increased PIR among individuals positive for hepatitis B (males: 8.39, females: 6.43) and hepatitis C (males: 6.04, females: 10.76). Furthermore, hepatitis B-positive patients showed elevated PIR for haemato-lymphoid malignancies such as multiple myeloma, leukemia, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Limitation: The correlation between hepatitis B surface antigen and haematolymphoid malignancies is attributed to the supplementary antigen investigation, demanding careful consideration.

Implications and conclusion: The PIR for liver cancer was heightened in both hepatitis B and C patients. Strengthened surveillance, including pre-screening for hepatitis B and C positive infection among cancer patients, as well as screening for HCCs among hepatitis seropositive individuals, is crucial to mitigate the incidence of HCC.

Related Articles

Sarthak Tandon, Manoj Gupta, Parveen Ahlawat, Madhur Verma, Apoorva Nayak, Akash Bellige, Kundan S Chufal, Jaskaran S Sethi, Anjali Pahuja, Shreya Rai, Abhishek Singh, Vikas Arora, Vishal Yadav, David K Simson, Irfan Ahmad, Sandeep Singh, Dipesh Vashisht, Azhar Ansari, Rashmi Bansal, Abhishek Bhadri, Harsh Vyas, Manindra Mishra, Rajat Saha, Mudit Agarwal, Partha S Chowdhary, Ajay K Dewan, Munish Gairola
Nuradh Joseph, Vimukthini Peiris, Vodathi Bamunuarachchi, Prasad Abeysinghe, Nadarajah Jeyakumaran, Devinda Jayathilake, Kanthi Perera, Rohini Fernandopulle, Sanjeeva Gunasekera
Susan Msadabwe, Peng Yun Ng, Richard Sullivan, Kennedy Lishimpi, John Kachimba, Justor Banda, Jane Mumba, Abidan Chansa, Mutuna Chiwele, Kasonde Bowa, Kaseya Chiyenu, Linda Malulu-Chiwele, Julie Torode, Grant Lewison, Andrew Leather, Ajay Aggarwal, Kathleen Schmeler, Groesbeck Parham, Kabisa Mwala, Paul Kamfwa