Detecting and treating hepatitis B could help to reverse the global increase in fatal liver cancer
Credit: Jason Behary
When someone’s liver is infected with hepatitis B, damage increases over time, as long as the virus is active. The liver tissue thickens and forms scars , advancing to severe scarring called cirrhosis. In approximately one-third of people with hepatitis B infection, this then progresses to hepatocellular carcinoma, as the viral DNA inserts itself into liver cells, changing their function and allowing tumours to grow.
In Taiwan, where hepatitis B infection is endemic, all infants have been vaccinated against it since 1984. In the years since, hepatitis-B-associated cancer incidence and deaths have decreased — but only in people born after the vaccine was brought in, Lok says. Children and young adults rarely get hepatocellular carcinoma in the first place, so even a huge decrease in these age groups would barely affect the overall numbers.
Lok says both interventions will eventually make a difference to liver cancer rates worldwide. “Vaccines will take one generation, 20–30 years, to begin to have an impact, and antiviral therapy will take 5–10 years, even in countries that are early adopters,” she says. “Global impact will take much longer.”
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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