HCI ‘increases non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk’

Hepatitis C infection (HCI) increases the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) – malignancy involving lymphatic tissue – by 20 to 30 per cent, according to a new study.

Researchers behind the discovery claim that the increase is “small but significant”.

Previous studies have identified a link between hepatitis C virus (HCV) and NHL but the scientists behind the latest report claim they were too small to adequately assess the risk.

HCI is also associated with a three-fold increase in the risk of another type of lymphoma, the US team from Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Centre found.

They analysed patients from US veterans affairs healthcare facilities from 1997 to 2004 -146,394 individuals were infected with HCV and 572,293 were not.

They found 1,359 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 165 cases of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (a low grade lymphoma), 551 cases of cryoglobulinemia (abnormal proteins in blood) and 320 cases of thyroid cancer.

“We found a small but significant 20 per cent to 30 per cent increase in the risk of NHL, including all subtypes, and an almost three-fold increased risk of the low-grade lymphoma subtype Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia in persons with HCV infection,” the authors write in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama).

“Although the clinical significance of these findings is unknown, it is possible that screening of individuals infected with HCV could identify early stage lymphoproliferative conditions suitable for early intervention strategies, including chemoprevention trials on premalignant disease.”