The HCV infection multiplied by 6 the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Patients infected with hepatitis C are six times more likely than uninfected individuals to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to a study presented at the annual conference Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in Seattle, which confirms the conclusions which led most of the work done in other countries around the world.

Unlike Europe and Japan, the incidence of hepatitis C is relatively low in North America, Canadian and U.S. studies have not demonstrated an association between HCV and the development of non-Hodgkin's -Hodgkin's, said Agnes Lai, lead author of the study.

With colleagues at the University of British Columbia, she examined the HCV status of 550 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 205 healthy individuals serving as controls. The results confirmed the existence of a link between HCV infection and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma showed Agnes Lai.

"People who have been exposed to the virus are at high risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, particularly diffuse lymphoma B cells," commented John Spinelli, who participated in the study. Their risk of developing diffuse B cell lymphoma is indeed 17-fold compared to healthy people.